Barack Obama has been criticized for “playing the race card” with his recent remarks emphasizing his non-resemblance to the previous presidents on U.S. currency. Actually, the bigger problem with his comments involves their fundamental dishonesty, not their focus on racial identity. 

In Springfield, Missouri on Thursday, the Senator 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’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky. That’s essentially the argument they’re making.” 

The same day he delivered very similar remarks in Rolla, Missouri: “So what they’re saying is, ‘Well, we know we’re not very good but you can’t risk electing Obama. You know, he’s new, he doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency. He’s got a funny name.’ I mean, that’s basically the argument – he’s too risky.” 

Even granting Senator Obama the poetic license he’s earned as a distinguished memoirist, this is a rank and irresponsible distortion of the campaign against him. Yes, the Republicans want to make the public “scared” of the Democratic candidate – but scared at his promises to raise taxes, surrender in Iraq, nationalize health care, and keep gas prices high to force people out of their cars. 

Where have McCain or his principal surrogates ever stressed Obama’s race – or his “funny name”? Whenever allies attempted that sort of attack, McCain rebuked them and repudiated that approach – as he did with talk show host Billy Cunningham stressing Obama’s middle name, or when the North Carolina GOP ran an ad featuring Reverend Wright.

Yes, Obama ought to apologize for his recent statements – not just because they’re racially based, but because they utterly mischaracterize the Republican criticisms of his candidacy. Even the notorious “Celebrity” ad on TV spent half of its thirty seconds stressing Obama’s position on the issues – in particular his opposition to oil drilling and backing for increased taxes on electricity.

As for Obama’s official campaign spokespeople, they’re even more disconnected from reality. On Thursday, Robert Gibbs spoke for the campaign regarding Obama’s references to looking different from faces on the currency and claimed that these comments in no way related to the candidate’s race. “What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn’t get here after spending decades in Washington,” he explained. “There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn’t come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race.”

Nor about race?

Does anyone actually believe that?

Consider the presidents on currency: George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, U.S. Grant. Do any of them look like John McCain? Actually, Jackson with his long, thin face looks far more like Obama than he does like McCain (though neither candidate boasts Old Hickory’s wild, wavy hair).

The point is, that his audiences and all fair-minded observers understand that Obama’s stress on his different appearance from previous Presidents is meant – unmistakably – to remind people that he would be the first person of color to occupy the White House.. He’s entitled to issue such reminders, but it’s appalling when his campaign fatuously denies that he’s doing so.