Revisiting the "Race Card" Dispute
(updated with video)
Back in July, Barack Obama said the following at a campaign event in Springfield, Missouri:
But look at where we are now. Over the last week, the McCain campaign itself, including all of the principals (John McCain, Sarah Palin, Cindy McCain) have done all of the things Obama warned about in his July comment. Let's go line by line.
[W]hat they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me.
Check. That's definitely been the theme of the week. Who is the real Barack Obama? What do we know about this guy. He's friends with terrorists, etc., etc.
You know, he’s not patriotic enough.
Check. Cindy McCain has accused Obama of putting her son in danger by voting against troop funding. She said it "sent a cold chill down my spine." Sarah Palin has flat out accused Obama of not sufficiently loving his country. McCain has suggested that we don't really know who Obama is, where he's from, or what his allegiances are. They're running ads playing up Obama's "friendship" with a domestic terrorist.
He’s got a funny name.
Check. Speakers at McCain/Palin rallies are now routinely referring to Obama by his full name, with emphasis on the middle name.
You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know.
They haven't literally said this, but that was definitely the gist of this McCain ad that was released on Wednesday (and appears to have been pulled due to copyright issues). The ad concluded with a picture of Obama and big words on the screen saying "Not Presidential."
He’s risky.
This is something they are explicitly saying. McCain himself has used the phrase numerous times and the campaign has released ads that explicitly call Obama "risky."
So everything Obama said in July has come to pass. Indeed, it's probably fair to say that Obama understated how ugly it would be. At the time, though, Republicans all claimed that Obama was being paranoid and racist. Now they're urging McCain to take these attacks even further.
UPDATE: No sooner had I written this post than I saw the McCain campaign's latest web ad. It is easily the most naked play to racial resentment made so far in this campaign. The basic gist is that Obama is some sort of inner city rabble-rowser who worked with ACORN to intimidate banks into making risky loans to shiftless minorities, setting the state for the current financial crisis. It uses still pictures of Obama from the 70s to make him seem like some sort of Black Panther-ish militant. It asks "who is Barack Obama" and claims that he had a "political baptism performed at warp speed" (i.e. he's not who he appears to be). It implies that ACORN and Obama and trying to steal the election by committing voter fraud in key swing states. Finally, it ends by calling Obama "too risky."
This is, without question, a Willie Horton-esque ad. In fact, it may be worse. McCain and the Republicans are not only trying to play up Obama's "blackness," but they're pushing the growing (and horribly inaccurate) meme that our current economic crisis is largely the fault of minorities. That is an incredibly dangerous and divisive thing to do.
Every day McCain descends further into the abyss.
UPDATE II: Wow, I don't know how I missed this earlier, but Jed Lewison beat me to this point big time. He even made a video. Take a look.
Back in July, Barack Obama said the following at a campaign event in Springfield, Missouri:
“So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky. That’s essentially the argument they’re making.”Even though this comment wasn't directed at the McCain campaign specifically, the McCain campaign reacted aggressively. Rick Davis issued an angry statement saying:
“Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”McCain himself later echoed this charge, and every Republican surrogate joined in, claiming that it was outrageous and racist to suggest that John McCain would ever employ such a strategy.
But look at where we are now. Over the last week, the McCain campaign itself, including all of the principals (John McCain, Sarah Palin, Cindy McCain) have done all of the things Obama warned about in his July comment. Let's go line by line.
[W]hat they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me.
Check. That's definitely been the theme of the week. Who is the real Barack Obama? What do we know about this guy. He's friends with terrorists, etc., etc.
You know, he’s not patriotic enough.
Check. Cindy McCain has accused Obama of putting her son in danger by voting against troop funding. She said it "sent a cold chill down my spine." Sarah Palin has flat out accused Obama of not sufficiently loving his country. McCain has suggested that we don't really know who Obama is, where he's from, or what his allegiances are. They're running ads playing up Obama's "friendship" with a domestic terrorist.
He’s got a funny name.
Check. Speakers at McCain/Palin rallies are now routinely referring to Obama by his full name, with emphasis on the middle name.
You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know.
They haven't literally said this, but that was definitely the gist of this McCain ad that was released on Wednesday (and appears to have been pulled due to copyright issues). The ad concluded with a picture of Obama and big words on the screen saying "Not Presidential."
He’s risky.
This is something they are explicitly saying. McCain himself has used the phrase numerous times and the campaign has released ads that explicitly call Obama "risky."
So everything Obama said in July has come to pass. Indeed, it's probably fair to say that Obama understated how ugly it would be. At the time, though, Republicans all claimed that Obama was being paranoid and racist. Now they're urging McCain to take these attacks even further.
UPDATE: No sooner had I written this post than I saw the McCain campaign's latest web ad. It is easily the most naked play to racial resentment made so far in this campaign. The basic gist is that Obama is some sort of inner city rabble-rowser who worked with ACORN to intimidate banks into making risky loans to shiftless minorities, setting the state for the current financial crisis. It uses still pictures of Obama from the 70s to make him seem like some sort of Black Panther-ish militant. It asks "who is Barack Obama" and claims that he had a "political baptism performed at warp speed" (i.e. he's not who he appears to be). It implies that ACORN and Obama and trying to steal the election by committing voter fraud in key swing states. Finally, it ends by calling Obama "too risky."
This is, without question, a Willie Horton-esque ad. In fact, it may be worse. McCain and the Republicans are not only trying to play up Obama's "blackness," but they're pushing the growing (and horribly inaccurate) meme that our current economic crisis is largely the fault of minorities. That is an incredibly dangerous and divisive thing to do.
Every day McCain descends further into the abyss.
UPDATE II: Wow, I don't know how I missed this earlier, but Jed Lewison beat me to this point big time. He even made a video. Take a look.
posted by A.L. at 1:34 PM
6 Comments:
These people are fools. They're kicking over the table because they are losing.
It has been noted that many Republicans consider they have a God-given right to power. What is happening at the moment is a reflection of their abiding hatred for Bill and Hilary Clinton.
Bill Clinton was never given the respect due to a President by the right. He was always regarded as a usurper, an interloper into a place that was rightfully someone elses. While he was in office they persisted in starting off pointless investigations into his conduct until a moment of foolishenss by Clinton himself gave them the chance they were looking for. Even then, they failed.
When Bush won two narrow elections, he was encouraged to go as far to the right as he could. He was touted up by the neocons and fundies as someone who was going to leave a Permanent Republican Majority.
Now it is all ending in tears and the right are exploding in rage and frustration. They are losing what they consider to be rightfully theirs, not by the narrow margins that Bush won by, but by the substantial margins that Clinton won by; perhaps on Election Day a landslide.
I think they are getting the sinking feeling that Democrats got when Reagan won in 1980; that things will never be the same again. An undefined border and been passed and the political shape of the future is hard to determine. However, the rage probably springs from that realization that it will not be influenced in any great way by the Republican right.
Did you notice the citation of "National Review Online 9/30/08" (at the 35 sec mark) when the narrator said "ACORN forced banks to issue risky home loans. Same types of loans that caused the financial crisis we're in today." ?
The 3 cites before that were from the New York Post!
I think ads like that do more damage to McCain than help him. It's a total turn off to moderates.
McScum
Obama knew all along what he would have to face. It only makes me admire him even more that he knew this, yet went ahead with his candidacy.
I hope Quiddity is right - that these heinous ads will turn off everyone except the Republican base. This is not 1988 although they wish it were. I hope it isn't 1988 anyway.
Now I'm just waiting for a modern, Fox News, McCain-Palin inspired Kristallnacht.
I wonder why Fox News made a copyright claim and forced the new ad off YouTube.
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