Race Subtle But Important Campaign Issue

Karen Tumulty, one of TIME's top political writers, offers perspective on a new McCain campaign ad: "When politicians interject race into a campaign, they seldom do it directly. Consider McCain's new ad, which the campaign says it will be airing nationally:

This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.

Let me stipulate: Obama's Fannie Mae connections are completely fair game. But this ad doesn't even mention a far more significant tie--that of Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chairman who had to resign as head of Obama's vice presidential search team after it was revealed he got a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Instead, it relies on a fleeting and tenuous reference in a Washington Post Style section story to suggest that Obama's principal economic adviser is former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines. Why? One reason might be that Johnson is white; Raines is black.

And the image of the victim doesn't seem accidental either, given the fact that older white women are a key swing constituency in this election."

The fact that Frank Raines has not been an advisor to the Obama campaign at all clearly is no deterrent to the steady stream of attacks designed to undermine Obama. But there is a deeper problem reflected here, as addressed by former Newsweek editor Dick Meyer on National Public Radio this week:

...Some who have been doing recent research on race believe there is a current of racism that has not been triggered and that is likely to be — perhaps triggered intentionally by Republicans, but also as a natural consequence of the undecided voters finally focusing. And plenty of pundits and advice-givers think Obama is not doing enough to minimize or counter the racial impulses of undecided voters. (I am not convinced there is any way to spin this: What is, is.)

Does this mean John McCain, to capture the undecided vote, needs to actively trigger subterranean prejudices? Hard to say. But it is clear that many legitimate issues in the campaign also have racial angles or, to be fair, will be perceived through a prejudiced lens by some voters.

The "inexperience" issue is one of them. Obama has, in fact, less big league experience in government and politics than McCain or any other party nominee since JFK in 1960. If a voter is so inclined, this can play out as Obama coming off as an "affirmative action candidate."

The Meyer column is a must read for those concerned about the potential impact of white racial attitudes in this election. There is little question that this could impact close races in places like Ohio and Michigan, where most observers believe a white Democratic candidate would be leading comfortably given the dynamics of this year's election