Race should not be a campaign issue in this presidential election, yet both candidates are straying dangerously close to crossing a line that we'll all regret.
Rick Davis, Sen. John McCain's (R., Ariz.) campaign manager, Thursday said: "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he's played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful, and wrong." Those are strong statements.
Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) also played into race by suggesting that his opponents will try to raise voter concerns by saying things like he "doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills." This comment appears unnecessary and unsubstantiated.
Bringing the race discussion into the campaign remains a risky bargain for both candidates.
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First off, this campaign should be about the important issues facing our nation. This goes for the media as well, which has a tendency to get wrapped up in rhetoric on race and ignore the issues.
This week we learned about a surging federal deficit, increasing job loss, a weaker GDP number, and sinking home prices. Health care costs continue to rise at ridiculous rate. Overseas, we face a difficult endgame in Iraq and an ongoing struggle with terrorists in Afghanistan.
Playing the race card or claiming the race card has been played, cannot solve those problems. Both sides have taken the debate on race out of context in an effort to gain an advantage. And they should be ashamed. Race doesn't belong in an election this important.
Many political pundits remember the 2006 Senate race between another African American, Harold Ford, and Bob Corker. Near the end of the race, the Republican National Committee released an ad where a blonde woman made inappropriate and racy suggestions about Ford. Ford lost a close race.
The McCain camp also released an ad Wednesday - called 'Celeb' - Obama with blonde pop personalities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The use of Spears and Hilton is patently absurd.
The McCain camp can do better. But the ad is distinct in nature from the ad run against Ford because it lacks the salacious suggestions. Nevertheless, the McCain campaign should stick to the issues, not baseless attacks.
Factcheck.org has called the facts in the ad false.
So what about Obama? Davis' comments came in response to several quotes from appearances of Obama on Wednesday in Missouri. In Springfield, he said:
"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."
He continued in Union:
"They're going to try to say that I'm a risky guy, they're going to try to say, 'Well, you know, he's got a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills,' and they're going to send out nasty e -mails. And the latest one they got me in an ad with Paris Hilton."
I don't see Obama as playing the race card. He merely stated what has happened during the entire campaign. There's no doubt that emails have flown around the Internet making claims about his religion and family background.
His name has been an issue. Whether it's someone saying Osama -- not Obama -- or mentioning his middle name of Hussein, people have taken his name out of context. News organizations like MSNBC and Fox have made the mistake.
The McCain campaign has been making off-base character attacks on Obama for a week. He attacked Obama for being responsible for high oil prices, being unpatriotic in not visiting the troops, and the most recent ad called "Celeb."
Obama has to respond to McCain's attacks. His campaign has launched a website to fend off the negative attacks (it can be seen
here.) The site prominently displays McCain's promise to keep the campaign clean, and videos of Republicans calling his new negative attacks into question.
Unfortunately, some of Obama's statements attacks McCain for things he hasn't done. Yes, the McCain campaign ran the ad with images of Britney and Paris, but McCain has strongly spoken out against anyone who attacks Obama's race or religion (he's a Christian). And McCain has to stick with that pledge.
Obama conflated, however, a variety attacks - including chain emails from unknown authors - with the assumption they originated with his Republican opponents. It's unfair to say McCain has anything to do with Internet smears.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, denied in a conference call with reporters Thursday that the campaign played the race card or accused the McCain campaign of playing it. He said the campaign continues to focus on the issues facing average Americans. He did say, however, that the McCain campaign has "a strategic effort to distract the American people from the issues" with ads like "Celeb."
Presently, voters have a reasonably favorable view of both candidates, although much of what they hear will be filtered through the media. Will the media take sides on judging who played the race card?
So far, it's unclear. The media has reported on the lack of facts and the negative tenor of McCain's ads, in particular several op-eds decrying his new strategy. Should either candidate lose credibility, their negatives will rise with voters. In turn, it will make it much harder for them to win the election in November.
Both candidates need to stay away from gratuitous mentions of race. There are more than enough important issues that must be discussed - a discussion which American voters deserve.
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