Given the historic presence of the nation's first major-party African-American presidential nominee, it was likely inevitable.
But now the combustible issue of Barack Obama's racial identity has been thrust squarely into the heated political battle of the 2008 race. Obama Wednesday warned voters that John McCain or his allies would try to "scare" them with his race, and McCain campaign manager Rick Davis responded furiously on Thursday, accusing Obama of playing the race card.
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Obama's aim, in the view of the McCain camp: "to delegitimize any line of attack against him," said McCain aide Steve Schmidt. He said he saw that potential trap being sprung when Obama predicted in Missouri Wednesday that the GOP nominee would attack the Democrat because he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
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But Schmidt said McCain had learned the lesson of Clinton's campaign, which began by taking her and her husband's affinity with African-American voters for granted but wound up seeing days and weeks consumed by racially charged gaffes and allegations, ranging from a New Hampshire supporter's suggestion that Obama had dealt drugs to Bill Clinton's own comparison of Obama's campaign to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's.
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McCain aides said they'd been on guard against charges of racism, anticipating the day the issue would arise. Obama made similar comments last month at a fundraiser in Florida. "And did I mention he's black," Obama asked, mockingly imitating what he predicted "Republicans" would say about him.
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"He injected this yesterday," Schmidt said. "We are compelled to respond. Tomorrow, if he does not do it again, we will not talk about it again."
In addition to positioning themselves as having been forced to raise the issue only to knock it down, McCain's campaign is also embracing the victim role in part to ensure that Obama can't seize it.
Specifically requesting that his emphatic point be included, Schmidt said: "We will not be smeared on this subject, period."
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Democrats and Republicans traded accusations about who was trying to inject race into the campaign.
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A Republican strategist said ... that Obama was introducing race to rally his core supporters.
Sigh...
"They started it!".
People are hurting right now - and they're in a pissing match over who the bigger jerk is when it comes to playing that feckin' race card.
No wonder millions of us don't bother voting when election day rolls around.
