'Arrogant, presumptuous.' Hmm. Why does the word 'uppity' come to mind?

It is indeed depressing.

When Kennedy and Reagan went to Berlin they were actual Preidents, believe it or not. They also gave speeches in Berlin at a time of crisis between Western and Eastern Europe. I don't know any crisis in Europe that could have precipitated Barack Obama's visit to Berlin except one of personal and political expediency. Maybe I missed it (the crisis) but, if so, I'd like to be informed by the Obama supporters.

You couldn't make it up if you tried. Early into his Berlin speech, Barack told the congregation that they could see that he didn't look like any previous American President (cue for huge smile). Having settled that, as everyone reflected on the powdered wigs of men like Washington, Barack got into his stride and talked about walls, studuously ignoring the one that's been built in the Middle East in the last few years.

Anyway, to go back to the candidate referring to his physical appearance in his Berlin speech, it seems that Axelrod and Co. are now fuming about something that hasn't happened yet, but might. They are pointing out that the McCain camp WILL draw the voters' attention to the fact that Barack Obama doesn't look like earlier Presidents of the United States in an effort to scare them off. I know that po-faced seriousness is the order of the day, if not of the boot, on this site but I have to smile at all the slyness, mock indignation and the rest of it that this campaign has brought out. That burning smell you get is the melting-pot boiling over and the stew all over the floor may take years to clean.

"Arrogant" is associated with the province of Aragon in Spain and with the "hidalgos" or nobility renowned for their haughty manner. The Spanish King and his nobles did very well out of the New World so there's nothing new about that.

I sadly realized yesterday that this will probably work. I live in the bay area, but outside of Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, the political reality is really very different. You think that Hardball is bad? People don't even watch it. They listen to some things on radio talk shows on the way to work, the stereotype stuff makes its way around water cooler conversation, and then the most important part--the visceral racism comes in. IMHO, white men are generally threatened by black men. I grew up outside of Oakland, which is known as a 'black' city, and white people (and even Asians and Latinos) are not shy about speaking their mind in any room where there are no black faces. The spectre of a highly educated, dynamic, charismatic and good looking man of color is dangerous, and the threat exists beyond reasons ability to remedy, in the end, they will be compelled to vote against him or not vote for him. McCain and Rove know this, this is dog whistle politics at its best. To us, it may seem quite hamhanded, but there is a large and rapt population just eating it up.

Will McCain and his team’s old style Rovian politics, especially so far from when people really start paying attention, work or is this a different election environment? I find when I call to talk to independents and life long very disenchanted Republicans that they don’t know who to vote for. They clearly are fed up with Bush and what is happening to our country so they are fearful of voting for McCain and they are worried about Obama’s lack of experience.

While these current and very familiar Rove tactics do help support the lack of Obama experience, they don’t help McSame that much because it associates him with Bush instead of separating him. The undecided say to themselves that I fell for that stuff last time and look where it got us. As these people get to know more about Obama and see how his intellect and communication ability is the exact opposite of Bush/McSame, they are going to lean more toward Obama. Whomever represents real change will win. McSame’s age, simple, lovable American approach and support of the status quo is not going to sell this time around no matter how slick and dirty his team may be.

This latest take from AP that HappyHouse referred to on the tit for tat exchanges between the campaigns only works for those solidly in either camp. It doesn’t do much to help the undecided, decide.

McCain campaign accuses Obama of playing race card (see sig)

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - John McCain's campaign accused Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics a day after the Democratic candidate predicted Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

Obama "played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. He called Obama's remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

While Obama was meeting with victims of this summer's flooding here, his aides were initially dismissive of the McCain broadside. "We're not in the habit of reacting every time they put out a statement," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The first black candidate with a shot at winning the White House, Obama argued while stumping in Missouri on Wednesday that President Bush and McCain will resort to scare tactics to maintain their hold on the White House because they have little else to offer voters.

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "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 himself didn't make clear what distinctions he thinks McCain is likely to raise regarding the presidents on U.S. currency — white men who for the most part were much older than Obama when elected. McCain has not raised Obama's race as an issue in the campaign; he has said Obama lacks experience.

On Thursday, Gibbs said the senator was not referring to race.

"What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington," Gibbs said. "There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."

Throughout the day, Obama argued that McCain "thinks we're on the right track" economically.

"These anxieties seem to be growing with each passing day," Obama said. "We can either choose a new direction for our economy or we can keep doing what we've been doing. My opponent, John McCain, thinks we're on the right track."

That elicited boos from some of the 1,500 people who filled a Springfield high school gymnasium. When an AP-Ipsos poll asked the "right track, wrong track" question this month, 77 percent said they thought the country was on the wrong track. The same poll set Bush's approval rating at 28 percent. Both were records for the AP-Ipsos survey.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_el_pr/obama