Barack Obama's campaign blasted John McCain Thursday for being unable to persuade the North Carolina Republican Party to pull a controversial ad criticizing Obama for his connection to his former pastor.

The North Carolina GOP still plans to air the ad next week, despite attempts by McCain to shut it down and despite mistaken claims by his campaign earlier Thursday that the ad would be killed.

"The fact that Senator McCain can't get his own party to take down this misleading, personal attack ad raises serious questions about his promise to the American people that he will run a civil, respectful campaign," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.

The ad, which was posted online Wednesday, shows a clip of one of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s anti-U.S. sermons and declares that Obama is "just too extreme for North Carolina."

McCain and the Republican National Committee are still fighting to keep the ad from going to air, and McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Obama shouldn't be throwing stones since he has "refused" to condemn attacks on McCain by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and others.

"We'll start taking lessons from Barack Obama when he displays one ounce of the decency and courtesy that John McCain has shown in this campaign," he said.

McCain called on the North Carolina group to take down the ad Wednesday and repeated his displeasure with the spot Thursday while visiting New Orleans. McCain told FOX News the contents of the ad were "totally unacceptable."

"Americans want a respectful campaign," he said. "Do we have to go to the lowest common denominator? I don't think so."

But McCain told reporters that he may not be able to micromanage the situation here.

"I cannot in my role dictate to the North Carolina Republican Party what their message is but I can condemn it," he said Thursday.

Dean said in a statement that McCain's ability to persuade the North Carolina party to kill the ad is "a test of leadership."

Hillary Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said: "The ad is outrageous and it should come down."

There was some confusion after McCain aide Charlie Black said Thursday the ad would not air. Other news outlets reported the same.

But a state GOP spokesman said he doesn't know where McCain got his information.

"I don't know if there was some miscommunication. I'm sure it was an honest mistake -- but that's not the case," state GOP spokesman Brent Woodcox told FOXNews.com when asked about reports that they would pull the ad.

He said the McCain campaign wrote a letter Wednesday asking the group not to run the ad, but that it is still scheduled to run statewide starting as early as Tuesday.

State GOP Chairwoman Linda Daves reiterated in a statement Thursday that the ad will run.

"There has never been any intention to pull the ad and it will air," she said. "The ‘Extreme' ad has garnered attention around the country. I want to thank the people across North Carolina and across the country who have shown overwhelming support for us. Our aim is to tell the truth and ask difficult questions. We will continue to do so."

North Carolina Republicans argue that it's about a statewide race and not the national election. The ad actually targets Democratic gubernatorial candidates who have endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"We're 100 percent behind John McCain," Woodcox said. "But we have to worry about our other candidates for governor and on down the ballot."

This isn't the first time national Republican officials have been at odds with the actions of a state party. The Republican National Committee succeeded in February in convincing the Tennessee GOP to tone down a press release that criticized Obama's stance on Israel. The Tennessee party removed a reference to Obama's middle name, "Hussein," and a picture of him in African tribal garb after a rebuke from the RNC.

In North Carolina, not everyone is on board with the state GOP's ad plans.

WRAL-TV in Raleigh and WSOC-TV in Charlotte have declined to run the spot, Woodcox and station officials said.

Jim Hefner, vice president and general manager at WRAL, said the station had determined the ad was "inflammatory" and decided not to run without knowing that McCain and national Republicans had objected to it.

On Thursday, state Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek urged Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole to use her power to keep it off the air.

"As the highest-ranking Republican in the state, you have both the ability and responsibility to erase this stain on our state," Meek said in a letter to Dole. "Your silence tells North Carolinians that you will also sanction similar gutter tactics in your own campaign."

Dole said in an interview that she didn't want to get involved.

North Carolina holds its primary May 6.

Click here to see the controversial North Carolina GOP ad.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou and Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.