Representative John Lewis, a Democratic congressman and a civil rights icon, accused the McCain campaign of “sowing the seeds of hatred and division.”  The Georgia Democrat and Obama supporter said the negative tone of the campaign reminded him of the segregationist era of Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1960s.

Lewis’s comments, which were posted on his re-election website, come in reaction to the widely reported outbursts of anger of Republican supporters against Obama at McCain campaign events. Barack Obama, the first black man to be a major party’s nominee for president, has been aimed at. Even during some rallies featuring McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, supporters have shouted “traitor”, “terrorist”, “treason”, “liar”, and “off with his head”, for Obama. In fact, McCain himself urged his supporters at a Friday meeting to be respectful of ‘Senator Obama’.

The issue of race has mostly been an undercurrent in the presidential contest between McCain and Obama, and it remains unknown how much of a factor it will play in the November 4 election.

Lewis said: “There is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.” Citing the McCain-Wallace comparison, he noted that Wallace also ran for president, and added: “Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.”

Referring to Lewis’ comments, the Obama campaign said while Lewis was right to condemn “hateful rhetoric”, the Illinois senator did not believe McCain or his policy criticism were comparable to Wallace or his segregationist policies. Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, said that Lewis was on target in other ways.

In a statement, Burton said: “John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night.”

Meanwhile, McCain, trailing Obama in the polls in an increasingly tense campaign, quickly hit back. He branded Lewis’ remarks as “shocking and beyond the pale”, and called on Obama to immediately repudiate them. McCain also added: “I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I’ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character.”