The truth hurts

This fuss over racism being introduced into the campaigns is most interesting. McCain claims that Obama has introduced race into the campaign because, among other things, he said he doesn’t look like the pictures of Presidents on our bills and this implies racism. McCain, disingenuous as always, wants to portray himself the picture of innocence and says he did not, and would not, introduce race into the campaign. But his whole strategy is based upon doing just that, however much he wishes to pretend otherwise. His strategy, as is now widely known, is to get everyone to focus on Obama, who is he, can he be trusted, does he have judgment, experience, and so on. But what does anyone think of when they focus their attention on Obama? He’s black! McCain doesn’t have to articulate this, it is simply built into the strategy. They want voters to mistrust Obama, think he is too inexperienced, and most of all, is risky. To get them to believe that, they insist he is himself the important issue in the campaign. But he is inescapably black and that is the first thing people will notice when they focus their attention of him. So McCain can say he didn’t introduce race into the campaign because, in fact, he didn’t. But he didn’t have to. Simple, no? I would not have thought McCain and the Brafia that clever, but it seems they are. That they are doing just that is clear when you realize that Obama has already commented upon his own blackness previously. In fact, he even used the same remark about the Presidents before. They didn’t cry racism then, so why now? Because they are becoming desperate and have no positive record to run on and they don’t dare come right out in the open with their racial prejudice. I have to begrudgingly admit this is pretty clever. Linking Obama with a couple of immoral white women just adds to the picture of Obama they want viewers to believe, there is no other explanation for why they would have produced such an ad. Spears and Hilton have no connection whatsoever to politics. They might well have wanted to portray Obama as a celebrity, but why with Spears and Hilton? Why not Oprah or even Streisand? Why not any of the other celebrities that are supporting him? Spears and Hilton were carefully selected to make precisely the kind of sleazy connection they want the viewer to come away with. This is the same dishonest bit they used against Harold Ford (black man with white women). The McCain campaign has crossed the line, and having crossed it will probably not now be able to change. This is the strategy they chose and they can pretend it was not racist if they wish. But it is, and they must know it is. What bothers them is that Obama has revealed the truth about it. He’s no fool, he knew they would depend upon racism as well as his inexperience, and it would only be a matter of time before it would happen. He has rather cleverly parried it.
As I said last night, I believe McCain is a far greater risk as President than Obama. I think his attitude toward Obama even proves it. He’s a hater. He hated Romney and now he hates Obama. And he’s angry. Allowing yourself to become angry in a fight is a recipe for failure. He is trying everything to make Obama mad and upset. But Obama keeps his cool, Calamity John does not. McCain is very apt to self-destruct before this is over.

Jon Steward on the Daily show tonight got it just right tonight about the claim of arrogance. He pointed out the obvious truth: both Obama and McCain are running for President, the most powerful position in the world. What are they supposed to say, “I’m really not much of a person or anything but you should vote for me?” In fact, like most everything else McCain has claimed about Obama, it’s more true of him than Obama. Think of his delusional, “I know how to win wars,” claim, or his description of exactly what the world would be like at the end of his first term. No one harped on McCain’s presumptiveness as they have about Obama’s. White men are just not seen as “uppity” (presumptiveness in blacks is uppity, in whites it is just presumptivesness), just another example of the no longer veiled racism involved. But search your brain. Can anyone see McCain as a possible really great President, carrying on as he will in the marvelous achievements of the Bush Presidency?

LKBIQ:
It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember.
Eugene McCarthy