Obama And The Race Card

I share this reader’s concern:

I agree with everything you say wholehearedly about how tacky it is for the Clintons to trash their party’s best hope for the future.

But be very, very careful, especially in quoting Donna Brazille, who should teach college courses on how to lose elections. I’m starting to get the impression that the Clinton camp is trying to lure Obama into playing the race card. The obvious tactics of calling him kid and everything seem to me like a race-bait tactic. First, get Bill to belittle Obama in what can be seen by some (but not by white people) as a racial slight. Then, provoke Obama, who has not made race a factor at all in the campaign, to fall back on race as a defense against their attacks. This will then drive away many of those who have been attracted to Obama’s campaign in part BECAUSE he has not played the race card.

The Clinton’s are smart. Don’t play to them, though.

So right. I found Jesse Jackson’s TV appearance in defense of Obama troublesome. And I sure hope Obama doesn’t take the Clinton-bait (everything I’ve observed about him suggests he won’t). The Clintons have already used the gender card. They tend to use whatever comes to hand. But Obama’s core message is that he doesn’t go there. He should stick to that. He is in a different league than the Clintons which is why he stands a chance of beating them. By all means, go on the offensive by decrying those who cry "false hopes" and remind voters that a vote for the Clintons is a vote for dynasticism and the polarizing past in American politics. But stay positive on the racial and gender issues. Yes, the Bradley Effect probably made a difference in New Hampshire. But don’t let it get to you. The only way past this is through it.