John McCain’s presidential campaign believes their rival Barack Obama shamefully played the “race card” against McCain while stumping in Missouri.
At three separate stops in a single day of campaigning Obama told reporters the McCain campaign was telling voters Obama “doesn’t look like other presidents.”
The McCain campaign says by saying this Obama is effectively accusing the McCain campaign of racism. “Barack Obama has played the race card and he played it from the bottom of the deck” McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis said in a statement Thursday morning. “It’s divisive, shameful and wrong.”
In addition to the statement about the “race card” Davis emailed reporters video clips of Obama saying these things about McCain and the GOP, which are included below.
In Springfield, Missouri Obama said: “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." Link:
He repeated a similar line at a speech in Rolla, Missouri. The only way they figure they're going to win this election is if they make you scared of me. 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."
Again in Union, Missouri Obama pushed the message: They're going to try to say that I'm a risky guy, they're going to try to say, 'Well, you know, he's got a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills,' and they're going to send out nasty e -mails.”
Some news outlets do find Obama’s word choices suspicious. ABC’s Jake Tapper wrote a blog about Obama’s remarks yesterday that he titled, “Did Obama Accuse McCain of Running a Racist, Xenophobic Campaign?”
McCain’s answer is obviously, “yes.”