the race card

(Newser) - A minority of white voters—44%—are now supporting Barack Obama, but he trails by less than previous Democratic presidential candidates, reports the New York Times, including Bill Clinton. Both the impact of racial attitudes and the proportion of white voters in the electorate have diminished, analysts say. In a recent poll, 80% of whites said an Obama administration would not favor the interests of minorities. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama's campaign has been unjustly accusing John McCain of appealing to racial prejudice, Charles Krauthammer argues in the Washington Post . McCain is taking the flak for what a few "agitated yahoos" shout at his rallies, he writes—a guilt by association that Obama seems to have escaped despite his ties to controversial figures such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. More »

(Newser) - The McCain campaign has crossed the line from negative campaigning to “inciting vigilantism” with racist tactics that should raise alarms about Barack Obama’s safety, writes Frank Rich in the New York Times . Particularly troubling is Sarah Palin’s repeated linking of Obama to “terrorists” and her refusal to quell the frenzy—and cries of “kill him!”—her rhetoric incites at rallies. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s race could be holding him back in polls by some 6 points, a poll suggests, but it’s not necessarily because of racists, Nicholas Kristof writes in the New York Times . More likely, it’s an unconscious matter of “aversive racism”—decisions made based on race by people who don’t think they’re racist, a phenomenon shown in decades of research. More »

(Newser) - John McCain’s campaign managed to slip the issue of race into the presidential election, Democratic heavyweight Rahm Emanuel said today. “They got it through customs," Emanuel said at a Politico-hosted roundtable, characterizing the Republicans’ tactic of injecting race with reaction to a perceived offense by Barack Obama. "They did a good job bringing up a topic they wanted brought up,” Emanuel continued. More »

(Newser) - The Democratic primary battle ended months ago, but many in both Hillary and Bill Clinton’s circles still harbor a grudge over the way her campaign was painted as racist, Ben Smith writes in Politico. This ill will is coming back to haunt presumptive nominee Barack Obama as he grapples with the McCain campaign's suggestion he is now playing the race card. More »

(Newser) - Race has once again crept into the presidential race this week, and Barack Obama did his best to ignore it, the New York Times reports. John McCain’s campaign accused Obama of “playing the race card…from the bottom of the deck” when the Dem said McCain might attack him because he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” But Obama resisted retaliating, trying to prevent a racial firefight. More »

(Newser) - John McCain's lurch into negative campaigning is beginning to echo loaded racial issues of the past, according to the New York Times editorial board. The "celebrity" attack ad against Barack Obama featuring Britney Spears and Paris Hilton recalls a Republican ad—from workers now on the McCain team—that juxtaposed a black Senate candidate with young white women. More »

(Newser) - Accusations of "playing the race card" are flying back and forth between the John McCain and Barack Obama camps, but neither is truly guilty, Joan Walsh writes in Salon. McCain has run an "appalling low-road campaign" of late, but not a racist one, while Obama's comment about not looking like other presidents was about more than just his skin color, she argues. More »

(Newser) - John McCain’s campaign adviser accused Barack Obama today of having “played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck,” reports the New York Daily News.  The Dem had yesterday described how opponents would use fear against him, saying, “You know, ‘he’s not patriotic enough…he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.’” More »

(Newser) - McCain may lead Obama by 10% among white voters, but three of four white supremacists say they prefer the Illinois senator, Esquire reports. The Director of the White Aryan Resistance calls Obama a "black racist," but still supports him because of McCain's economic policies. He "hates the transnational corporations more than any black person." More »