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In the Eyes of the Beholder

Posted by DENNIS SANDERS in At TMV.
Aug 1st, 2008 | Comments

It seems like the new rule for Republicans is to never, ever have a campaign ad with a black male candidate and a white woman.

The quip over John McCain’s “celebrity” ad has raised a lot of ruckus. Now, I think it is in very poor taste to paint Barack Obama as an empty-headed celebrity ala Britney and Paris, but I don’t get the charge of racism coming from some. Some Barack supporters see a picture of a black man and two white women and it conjures up the belief that the McCain camp was putting up a racist ad.
Now of course, the GOP has a sad history of airing racially-tinged ads that were correctly condemned. But this one? No, it’s not racist.

Why? Well, I can’t look into the hearts of those that produced the message, but simply showing a black man and two white women doesn’t make an ad racist. There’s just no “there” there. I do think all the kerfuffle over the supposed racist tones of the ads has a lot more to say about our assumptions of people than it does about racism.

I think in the minds of many, Republicans are viewed as racist. Yes, there have been racist Republicans (Jesse Helms comes to mind), but it is wrong to assume all Republicans are closet Klansmen. Again, if you have a mindset where people already believe that a whole group of people have a certain characteristic, then it’s easy to believe that the McCain ad is at its heart racist.

The McCain ad is many things. I think it belittles Obama, who is more than just a media sensation. But it is not racist, lest we think to attack an African American opponent at all is racist.

Liberal opponents have every right to criticize McCain over this ad. But I think it is wrong to assume the worst of McCain when it comes to race. Not every Republican is a racist and, barring glaring evidence to the contrary, McCain should be given the benefit of the doubt in that regard

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elrod

I'm a hardcore Obama supporter and I agree with you. The ad was not racist.

It was stupid, juvenile and pathetic. It, along with his other ads, has served to dishonor John McCain, making him look like a desperate buffoon. But it isn't racist.

ChrisWWW

I agree that racism charge is a stretch. Not implausible, but a stretch.

Still, Grizzled Vet McCain should grow a pair and stop playing the victim card constantly. First it was Obama's media attention in Europe, now this.

Silhouette

Actually, it wasn't stupid but rather poorly executed.

And the point of the two other celebrities was "the look is good, the act is smooth, the lights are on, but nobody's home". And in Obama's case this is unfortunately true.

Now Spears and Hilton may not like that comparison, but the truth is often a bitter pill to swallow...lol..

Neocon

The problem is that Obama made it racist with his comments and then immediately regretted it and even his campaign issued a bizarre clarification stating Obama was referring to history.

So the bloggers jumped into action and tried to spin the racism around and put it on McCain as they should do. Its what we all do with our candidates. We tend to try and protect them, spin their words and help when they stumble.

No problem but again Obama's handlers totally dropped the ball on this deal as did Obama. Why did Obama make these statements??........he was walking around on the stage trying to emulate McCain and he made a silly mistake.

Obama is a sound byte candidate. Now that he has to offer more then sound bytes he is more prone to making errors. Everyone knows this is why they didnt go see the troops....he could not have his staff with him so they could think for him.

Perception and thats not a good perception to have.

ChrisWWW

Check out this ad where McCain complains about Obama's face on money: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDTJDv4hevU

ryan

At the moment it seems that the people on both sides who are throwing around the "race" issue are looking to score cheap points and end up discrediting the candidate they are supporting in the process. Screaming "racism" when an ad featuring a black man and two white women is shown it is akin to crying "wolf", and distracts from the true issue of McCain issuing a negative and insulting ad. Similarly, when the McCain campaign screams "race card" over a completely innocuous remark they lessen their own credibility.

Race simply isn't the issue that many want it to be in this election - people on either side will scream about it, but the truth is that McCain isn't racist and Obama isn't Jesse Jackson.

Neocon

That was funny Chris. However that was not paid for by John McCain. One has to say at the end of the message that they approve that message.

But it was still funny.

ChrisWWW

Neocon,
It was on John McCain's website: http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainreport/Read.asp...

It was posted to YouTube @ McCain's official YouTube account.

Perhaps ads that aren't on TV don't require the same level of disclosure?

Neocon

They must not. I thought it was a rule that all adds had to have this disclaimer. Perhaps your right if it was on his site then obviously Im wrong on this.

jdledell

Dennis - I would agree with you EXCEPT for the fact that McCain recently hired Terry Nelson who produced the famous "Call Me" white bimbo ad against Harold Ford. That damn ad worked - Ford went from 6 points up to 4 points down within days. You know darn well that a white woman with a black man still resonates negatively with men, even outside the deep south. I have no doubt with Terry Nelson in the picture what the intention of McCain's ad was.

StockBoySF

I don't think the Paris/Spears/Obama ad is racist. But given all of McCain's recent attacks and his desperation I don't put it past him to bring up race in a subtle way to get it out there.

For instance McCain claims that Obama is playing the race card with the recent comment about Obama not looking like the presidents who are on the currency. I think McCain did throw out the race charge there to put Obama on the defensive. Now whenever race comes up in the contest McCain can claim that Obama brought it up first. When Obama claims that he is running a more positive campaign, McCain can claim that Obama used the race card. When Obama claims that he appeals to Dems, Reps. and independents, McCain can claim that Obama used the race card.... Not that it's true, but because McCain went there by putting forth this ridiculous charge he can claim that he is right. It's a debate that won't go away and McCain can win the argument on it.

McCain isn't aiming at the left or the right voters or even the independents in this case. McCain is aiming these attack ads towards the undecided voters who feel just a little uneasy about Obama, but like what they see and so they may eventually vote for him. Except this is one way McCain can continue that those "undecideds" continue to stay undecided and may support McCain. If 8 to 10 percent of the voters are undecided and if McCain can sway them to his column, then he can carry the election. I suspect many of these undecideds are not comfortable with Obama and are looking for a reason to support McCain (they may not be "against" Obama, but they "prefer" McCain).

DLS

It wasn't racist. It also wasn't the way Elrod described it (you're overreacting again, sir -- my, aren't we a strong supporter of the man). It was simply too late to truly be effective. This ad would have been stellar several weeks ago. Showing it now only makes McCain look dull or slow-witted as well as obviously inept.

Obama said he wanted to do a buy-a-vote energy-rebate program funded by windfall oil profits taxes. McCain should *** ALREADY *** have annihilated Obama on this. But what has McCain said or done so far? What? He should have responded within hours. We don't want to see his response six weeks from now.

DLS

"McCain isn't aiming at the left or the right voters or even the independents in this case. "

Has he any aim at all? [rolling eyes]

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