Editorial: Burgess apology request an unnecessary appeal

‘ ‘ ‘ The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police confirmed on Friday that Ashley Todd, a volunteer for the… ‘ ‘ ‘ The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police confirmed on Friday that Ashley Todd, a volunteer for the McCain campaign, fabricated her story of being mugged and attacked in Bloomfield by a black man. ‘ ‘ ‘ Todd, who had claimed that a robber carved a ‘B’ into her face after seeing the McCain bumper sticker on her car, later confessed that she has had mental problems and could not remember how the ‘B’ appeared on her face. ‘ ‘ ‘ From the very beginning, Todd’s claim had many holes. ‘ ‘ ‘ Indeed, the police never confirmed any of her allegations and were still in the process of investigating. ‘ ‘ ‘ Despite this, the McCain-Palin and Obama campaigns were quick to respond. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Obama campaign issued a statement wishing Todd a swift recovery. ‘ ‘ ‘ Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin responded by contacting Todd by telephone. ‘ ‘ ‘ Both campaigns went overboard in their reactions and failed to wait for police confirmation before addressing Todd’s claim. ‘ ‘ ‘ But one Pittsburgh City Council member is not about to let it go. ‘ ‘ ‘ Rev. Ricky V. Burgess of the Pittsburgh City Council issued an open letter to the McCain-Palin campaign asking them to apologize for ‘pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Burgess wrote that ‘John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told Talking Points Memo’s Election Central that [McCain’s] Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, ‘You’re with the McCain campaign? I’m going to teach you a lesson.” ‘ ‘ ‘ Burgess also wrote that Verrilli said the communications director was quick to claim that the ‘B’ stood for Barack. ‘ ‘ ‘ Because of all this, Burgess said, the McCain campaign owes the ‘City of Pittsburgh and its African-American community’ an apology. ‘ ‘ ‘ With his letter, Burgess has drawn attention to the desperation of the McCain campaign to, with a week left until Election Day, try and spin any story into something that could benefit the Republican ticket. ‘ ‘ ‘ Burgess’ frustration is not unfounded. The McCain campaign did indeed act irresponsibly in calling Todd and, in so doing, justifying her false claims. ‘ ‘ ‘ But Burgess is also being unfair. While the McCain response was greater than the Obama campaign’s, the truth is that both sides reacted without police confirmation of the attack. Furthermore, by requesting an apology days after the event was found to be false, Burgess is giving this issue more attention than it deserves. ‘ ‘ ‘ In the final days before the election, the American people have to leave spin and misinformation behind and make sure they do not lose sight of the important issues.