Race issue surfaces for McCain, Obama
Both sides cite use of low tactics
In an exchange that introduced the issue of race into the general election campaign, John McCain yesterday accused Barack Obama of playing "the race card" against him by claiming that Republicans were trying to scare voters by warning that Obama "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, said in a statement. "It's divisive, negative, shameful, and wrong."
At issue are comments that Obama made during three appearances in Missouri on Wednesday, ridiculing what he described as the GOP game plan against him. "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 the dollar bills,' " Obama said at one stop.
Obama has often talked about his physical appearance in campaign speeches, but McCain advisers said he crossed a significant line by accusing the GOP of scare tactics and alluding to his own race in the same breath.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Illinois senator, trying to become the first African-American elected president, was not referring to race in his remarks.
"There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene," Gibbs said. "It is not about race."
Another spokesman, Bill Burton, added, "Barack Obama in no way believes that the McCain campaign is using race as an issue, but he does believe they're using the same old low-road politics to distract voters from the real issues in this campaign."
But later on MSNBC, Davis asserted that Obama's campaign and liberal bloggers are "actively feeding the notion" that McCain's campaign is doing and saying things with racial overtones.
In an interview with CNN, McCain stood by his campaign manager's accusation as fair criticism of Obama. "I'm sorry to say that it is. It's legitimate," said McCain, who is scheduled to speak today to the National Urban League, a largely African-American group.
"There's no place for it, and we shouldn't be doing it," McCain said of Obama's comments.
Asked about the Obama campaign's denials, McCain answered, "I'll let the American people judge."
The combustible issue of race - which surfaced at times during Obama's fight with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination - reemerged as McCain has taken a more aggressive approach with a series of negative TV ads. A much-remarked-upon spot unveiled on Wednesday calls Obama the "biggest celebrity in the world," questions his fitness to be president, and mockingly compares him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Yesterday, Obama launched a new website to debunk McCain's attacks called the "Low Road Express," a take-off of the Republican's "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus.
The national Democratic Party also came to Obama's defense, releasing an Internet video that calls McCain's attacks "desperate" and shows a series of unflattering newspaper headlines about them.
"You'd think that we'd be having a serious debate," Obama told a crowd yesterday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "But so far all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears."
"I do have to ask my opponent, 'Is that the best you can come up with? Is that really what this election is about? Is that what is worthy of the American people?' "
But McCain isn't backing down, saying he is "proud" of the celebrity ad.
"There are differences, and we are drawing those differences," McCain said yesterday in response to a question at a town hall meeting in Racine, Wis., about whether he had reneged on a pledge to wage a "respectful" campaign.
"Campaigns are tough, but I'm proud of the campaign that we have run," he said. "I'm proud of the issues we are trying to address with the American people."
