The North Carolina Republican Party appears to have jumped its track. They have ignored demands from John McCain and the Republican National Committee that they stop running the now-famous Swiftboat-style ad linking Barack Obama and two Democratic candidates for governor, Bev Perdue and Richard Moore, to controversial statements of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor.

At some point soon, Sen. Dole’s silence about the ad will morph into an endorsement.

Here is a transcript of the ad copy:

“Narrator: For twenty years, Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor. Jeremiah Wright: And then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no. Not God Bless America, God (censored) America. Narrator: Now Bev Perdue and Richard Moore endorse Barack Obama. They should know better. He’s just too extreme for North Carolina Chairman Linda Daves: The North Carolina Republican Party sponsored this ad opposing Bev Perdue and Richard Moore for North Carolina Governor.”

Besides falsely insinuating that Obama endorsed Wright’s statements and making a specious connection between the Wright controversy and Perdue and Moore, close observers of Tar Heel politics suggest the imagery in the ad may also present a subtle racist message — an advertising tactic routinely employed by former Sen. Jesse Helms.

The most senior Republican in the state is Sen. Liddy Dole, who occupies the seat once held by Helms, and who has been silent on the ad. At some point soon, her silence will morph into an endorsement.

Go HERE to sign the petition demanding the Sen. Dole tell the NC GOP to stop running the ad.

Update: Two of the biggest stations in the state — WSOC in Charlotte and WRAL in Raleigh — have refused to run the ad, according to the Charlotte Observer: