BANGOR – Maine Democrats on Friday blasted a recent round of Republican-sponsored automated calls denouncing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Some people arrived home Thursday afternoon and evening to the “robocalls” on their answering machines. Within the automated message, the caller claimed Obama “worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.”

Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, which was blamed for several acts of domestic terrorism during the Vietnam War.

In the 29-second message, an unidentified male said the call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and the campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Rep. Sean Faircloth, the majority whip of the Maine House of Representatives, called the messages “extremely improper” and said the RNC’s move paralleled McCarthyism.

“It’s sad they’ve sunk this terribly low in the McCain campaign,” he said. “It is very unfortunate and we hope that all Maine citizens, when they get dirty phone calls and (experience) cheap tactics, that they will report those and let people know.”

Faircloth said Obama was in third grade when Ayers was active in the Weather Underground. Obama has said he served on a school reform board in Illinois with Ayers, who is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The RNC on Friday seemed to stand by the content of the calls, releasing a statement reiterating Obama’s connection to Ayers.

“Barack Obama’s befriending of an unrepentant domestic terrorist, and his unwillingness to acknowledge the extent of their relationship, shows an incredibly troubling lack of judgment on Obama’s part,” RNC spokesman Blair Latoff said.

Obama spokeswoman Jessica Santillo said she did not know how many Mainers received the calls, but the Maine Democratic Party received complaints from people all over the state.

Bangor resident Virginia McIntosh, 42, got home at about 1:30 p.m. Friday and heard the message on her answering machine. She replayed it several times before calling a local Democratic office.

She said the message was “very, very disturbing.”

“(The message) scared me, not to not vote for Barack, but to not vote for McCain and Palin because of these scare tactics that they’re coming out with,” said McIntosh, who plans to vote for Obama. “It just appalls me.”

The message concluded with a Washington, D.C.-area phone number that went unanswered Friday afternoon.