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Explosive issue of race hits Obama-McCain campaign

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-01 15:49

In recent days, McCain has been going after Obama with new fervor, painting him as not ready to lead and too liberal for the country. It's an aggressive approach reminiscent of GOP operative Karl Rove, who orchestrated Bush's back-to-back victories in part by tearing down Democratic opponents.

Now, several of Rove's former rank-and-file are in elevated roles in McCain's campaign, and it shows.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speaks to supporters at a Town Hall Meeting about economic security in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Republican John McCain's campaign Thursday accused Obama of playing the "race card" after the Democratic White House candidate complained Republicans were trying to scare voters away from him. [Agencies]

Opening a new front Wednesday, the GOP campaign rolled out a hard-hitting commercial that uses pictures of 20-something stars Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to suggest that Obama is little more than a media darling who is unqualified to be president.

"He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?" the ad asks.

Obama's campaign countered with its own ad that called McCain's charges "baloney" and "baseless."

In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Obama steered clear of race as he chided McCain, saying: "So far, all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton. I do have to ask my opponent: 'Is that the best you can do? Is that what this election is really all about? Is that worthy of the American people?'"

At campaign headquarters in Chicago, Obama's campaign unveiled a new Web site that accuses McCain of "negative attacks and false charges."

The Democrat's campaign has been operating under an edict to leave no attack unanswered lest he be tagged with an unshakable label. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry never recovered from the Bush campaign's efforts to tag him a flip-flopper and elitist, as well as a Republican-aligned group's questioning of his war record.

Mindful of how a such a damaging narrative can take hold, Obama's campaign set up a Web site to dispel persistent Internet-driven rumors about his patriotism and religion, and he has sought to reassure voters on the campaign trail.

Often, he refers to his distinctions as a candidate and says that he's aware there are doubts among some voters because, for example, he has "a funny name." Obama, the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, also has been known to acknowledge his appearance differs from previous candidates but then to add that the differences are not just about race.

"I know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in this great city," he said last week in Berlin. And on Tuesday, in Springfield, Mo., he said: "It's a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama."

Race generally remained in the background during the Democratic primary. The issue burst into the open last spring when Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, came under fire for sermons in which he accused the government of conspiring against blacks. Internet videos of his comments threatened great damage to Obama's campaign.

Seeking to stem the fallout, Obama gave a high profile speech about racial tension in the country and later left Wright's church.

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