The Presidential race heated up this week, as Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain each accused the other of exploiting racial divisiveness. Barack Obama has a white, American mother and a black, African father, but identifies himself primarily with black African-Americans.
Obama spent the previous week campaigning overseas and made the remarks after returning to the US. He addressed a town hall on July 30 in Springfield, Missouri, where he said, “So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me…you know, he doesn’t look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills, you know.”
The McCain campaign immediately fired back, issuing a statement to reporters that read, “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”
Obama initially contended that he was not referring to ethnicity or race. However, David Axelrod, chief strategist for the Obama campaign, has since admitted that the remark was intended to highlight Obama’s race. “He’s not from central casting when it comes to candidates for president of the United States… Yes, he’s African-American,” Axelrod told Good Morning America.
McCain claims he’s now being branded a racist and says that Obama made the incendiary remarks to draw attention away from his no-drilling energy policy. Obama has since revealed he is willing to compromise and allow some off-shore oil drilling.
Obama responded by accusing McCain of trying to draw attention away from important issues. “They’re clever on creating distractions from the issues that really matter in people’s lives,” he said.
The remarks, and fallout, have been front page news in major newspapers, including The New York Times, for several days.
