Obama's the Only One Playing the Race Card

Once-pivotal region misses the boat

(NEWSER) - Remember when the only winning Democrats were Southerners? Dixie’s desertion of the Democrats made Republicans the dominant party, and only when Democrats stole back part of the pivotal region could they win. Well, writes Adam Nossiter in the New York Times, the South is pivotal no longer. While running up his big total nationwide, Barack Obama actually lost ground in the white South, most likely because of race. More»

Obama reprises out-of-touch criticism of McCain, who hits back on economics

(NEWSER) - Both presidential candidates were on the trail today in Florida, trading jabs from opposite ends of the state, the Miami Herald reports. Barack Obama spoke about the economy in Jacksonville, in the north, the same city where John McCain said the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.” McCain dismissed his poor poll numbers in Tampa, saying, “we never give up, we never quit.” More»

Fractious Q&As and need for 'volume' forces shift to big rallies

(NEWSER) - John McCain hasn’t held one of his trademark town hall meetings since early October, and it’s not only because they started turning nasty, Politico reports. Though the question-and-answer format revealed some distressing misconceptions in the McCain faithful, town halls also are much smaller than more spectacular rallies. “The final weeks are all about volume, volume, volume,” a political scientist said. More»

Party faithful split on politics but united in distrust

(NEWSER) - Vastly different crowds appear at the rallies of the candidates who started their campaigns calling for bipartisan unity, a roving New York Times reporter finds. Republican rallygoers shout to a country-pop soundtrack; the Democratic faithful dance to folk and Motown. Flag pins, pompoms, and patriotic songs define GOP gatherings, while Dems favor buttons and the word "change." More»

(NEWSER) - It's been hard to miss the spate of reports about ugly anti-Obama incidents at McCain/Palin events—a crowd member calling him a “terrorist,” for instance. The media is now playing a game of "find a freak" at GOP rallies and grossly distorting the notion of genuine harm coming Obama's way, writes Sean Collins in Spiked. That these fears have gained traction underscores just how alienated Democrats have become from white, working-class voters. More»