Gotcha - I misunderstood.

I'm also a little baffled by the outrage here. And by the claim that blacks who vote for Obama are racist. Naturally, the white people who've been voting for white candidates ever since the birth of our nation were voting for reasons that had nothing to do with race...

Sheesh.

“They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. ‘He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?’

And how is this not an accurate representation of the whisper campaign thats been used against Obama since January? All of those emails saying he's a secret muslim; that "joke" email where his posed with his African family, who are all listed as crack heads and criminals. The writer of that email goes on to ask, is this the sort of people we want in the White House?

I don't think its the McCain campaign that is sending out these emails (especially since at the time these emails started, McCain was prettty low on cash.) But SOMEONE is. My money is on some Republican action

What I find the most interesting is how the text of some of these emails end up being posted, verbatim, in the comments sections of websites. So yes, They are trying to make the electorate afraid of Obama. Who that "they" is, is any guess, but I'm positive its a concentrated effort on the part of someone to paint Obama as an unamerican terrorist who is, gasp, black, in case you didn't notice.

I don't think it would at all surprise you, but perhaps it would to some of these other folks that are taking such a hotly indignant view.

I don't know why you'd think that would surprise me.

I find it curious that the McCain ad attacking Obama for his celebrity status uses two young white women, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, instead of, say, Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods who are as famous of a celebrity as Spears and Hilton. In this regard, McCain's ad is very similar to the ad used in Tennessee against Harold Ford in the 2006 Senatorial election. It conveys a subliminal message: Black men want our white women.

I know that this'll surprise some of you, but some have had their race held against them their whole lives.

Uses crazy logic. McCain says that Obama does not seem to understand because Obama does not seem to understand. Going to Harvard doesn't produce the exerience needed to make certain judgments, and even a brilliant young politican like Alexander Hamilton rashlyg made judgements at forty that he probably wouldn't have made at sixty.

No, Obama does not have the right to assume that his race will be held against him.

His race has been used against him for months.

and go back to school.

Obama said just a few weeks ago:

“They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. ‘He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?’

And he was right, so what's your point? I don't think Obama specifically said the McCain campaign was going to use that tactic; at least, I haven't read it if he did. But Obama is 100% correct to say his political opponents - whether you're talking about the Clintons or fringe right wingers - are going to bring race into the equation. How do you figure the Muslim or whitey rumors got started? And why do you pretend to be outraged when Obama states the obvious truth?

Why is anyone surprised? The Obama campaign did the same thing to the Clintons in the primary.

In the primary, any challenge to Obama's voting record, experience, or constituency was hysterically, and incorrectly, called racist by the Obama campaign and the media. Don't forget that the whites who didn't vote for Obama were called racists, too.

Oh please. The Clintons made plenty of bald-face racial appeals throughout the campaign, it is totally disingenuous to act like they weren't playing the game. And to say that "any" criticism of Obama was deemed racist is simply a lie. He's taken a ton of criticism over FISA, for example, and I have not once seen anyone accuse the critic of racism. The Clintons were accused of race-baiting when their comments and those of their associates were obviously based on race, like that unhinged hag Ferraro.

Of course, the 90+% of blacks who voted for Obama were allowed to do so without any charges of racism.

Nobody ever complained when 90+% of blacks voted for the white male democrat year after year. I think it's pretty hilarous that whites are now accusing blacks of a herd mentality now that they have a viable black candidate to support.

I'm assuming that you're white, Joe. Is it "racist" for you to have always voted for a white male for president? Nope, of course not. You've just always had a white guy to vote for. Lucky lucky you!

Try to get a clue. Your inane barbs show a lack of intellectual capacity.

No, Obama does not have the right to assume that his race will be held against him. But that aside I don't think a politician who LOOKs black ought to talk so much about how he looks. In our country, if you look black, you are pegged as black. Since you mention Harold Ford, one can speculate on how things would have gone if Foprd has garnered a few thousand votes and ended up in the Senate along with Obama. I don't think that Harold Ford would (1) be preening like some rock star or (1) calling attention to his appearance. For me, he would be in so many ways more suitable as a candidate than Obama, as he shares so many good things in common with Bill Clinton, and is--you will pardon me--more authentically black. On the other hand, Ford may not have had a chance since he lacks the "celebrity" quality that producing adoring crowds in Iowa--or Berlin. Harold may not have it in him what it takes to be a political version of Will Smith.