the race card
the race card news stories
ANALYSIS
44% of white voters swing to Obama

New York Times Nov 3, 08 8:04 AM CST
(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.
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OPINION
McCain's scrupulous eschewing of racial issue hasn't halted accusations

Washington Post Oct 17, 08 9:47 AM CDT
(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.
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OPINION
Palin's Obama rhetoric fans racist flames

New York Times Oct 12, 08 9:12 AM CDT
(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.
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OPINION
Many 'deflect' biases
to more PC concerns like inexperience

New York Times Oct 5, 08 10:07 AM CDT
(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.
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Campaign prevented backlash by panning Obama comment

Politico Aug 27, 08 4:29 PM CDT
(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.
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ANALYSIS
Aides didn't defend Obama on McCain's 'race card' accusation

Politico Aug 5, 08 12:23 PM CDT
(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.
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Analysis
Democrats try to avoid race war with McCain

New York Times Aug 2, 08 2:13 PM CDT
(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.
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OPINION
McCain campaign beginning to conjure up racially loaded images of the past

New York Times Aug 1, 08 5:04 AM CDT
(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.
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OPINION
Accusations aside, Obama or McCain aren't guilty—yet

Salon Aug 1, 08 2:56 AM CDT
(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.
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Calls Dem's comment that he doesn't look like other prezs 'shameful'

New York Daily News Jul 31, 08 2:29 PM CDT
(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.’”
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THE GLOSSIES
3 of 4 support him, despite racial differences

Esquire Jun 15, 08 4:15 PM CDT
(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."
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