PHILADELPHIA — Democratic officials on Saturday blasted a since-disavowed Republican e-mail sent to Jewish voters in Pennsylvania alleging that presidential candidate Barack Obama taught members of a community group "to commit voter registration fraud" and likening a vote for him to ignoring "the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s."

"This is a despicable e-mail. It's full of lies and half-truths," said U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa. He called on Republican nominee John McCain to denounce the e-mail, which he called part of a "smear campaign" that was among the worst he had seen.

State GOP officials disavowed the e-mail and said the strategist who helped draft it had been fired.

"The Republican Party of Pennsylvania did not authorize that e-mail," said Michael Barley, communications director for the state Republican Party.