Oh McCain, you've done it again!

Do I worry? No. For every ignorant person that won't vote for Obama because he is half-black, there is another ignorant person who is only voting for Obama because he IS half-black.

I am not voting for Obama, and this is just one reason why.

I think he did play the race card, but overall, I don't think race gives me that big of an advantage or disadvantage in the election.

I thought when opinions were overtly inserted into articles on Citizen Sugar, they were supposed to say "Check This" or something of that sort. I remember that being said along time ago when someone complained about another article. Is that no longer the case?

It's tagged as that, lilkimbo.

Oh, I guess I thought it was supposed to say that at the top. Sorry!

I don't even know why I thought that. I think I'm imagining that they were in the past. Maybe I am just on Citizen Sugar overload!

I think Obama hit it on the head. His race and background are the subtext of certain attacks, and as we've seen on here there are plenty of people unwilling to give him even a chance because of the damage those attacks have caused.

I don't really blame this on McCain himself, however. His negativity has at least been fairly free of racial subtext as far as I can tell. (And he at least hasn't proclaimed himself the choice of "hard-working Americans, white Americans.") It's more the lunatic fringe that spreads these kind of things.

I agree, Jude. I do think some people attack Obama for his race. However, I also think he "played the race card" by bringing it up. I don't think it's a horrible offense or anything, but, in my eyes, he did do it.

I don't disagree with you there, lil but I think it is sort of necessary, in his position, to occasionally remind people of the subtext of certain kinds of charges leveled against him.

Anyway, I have to get to work. I want to steal Citizen or Liberty's job so I be on here all day!

(Not to trivialize what you ladies do; I'm sure it's extremely hard work.)(I'm not being sarcastic, either; it seems like you guys put a lot of work into making Citizen Sugar a fun/happy place!)

I think we will have to agree to disagree, Jude.

Actually, the thing that really offends me is Obama's assertion that, "Nobody thinks Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face." I guess Obama has never met me or about 65% of the people I know!

Anyway, I really do have to work. Have a great day, everyone!

*I forgot to say that the whole reason he needs to occasionally say things like this is because the racial attacks aren't (for the most part) overt, but rather sneaked in the back door, and more insidious because they're more subtle.

Bye, lil!

I agree with the previous posters, as Obama's race will could be exciting or frightening (depending on the opinions of the individual voter). I don't think that he was playing the race card because it could be tremendously alienating and he hasn't reached this level of national prominence to turn to race-baiting. I don't think that McCain would be publicly racist, just as Obama wouldn't be publicly militant (no matter what their personal opinions are). But I would encourage both candidates to speak more frankly about the racial inequity that Americans citizens face (and not just the relationship between blacks and whites), because that it a real issue and I would appreciate candor in both candidates.

McCain is starting to get on my nerves.

I'm not the biggest Obama fan, I'm still not 100% I am voting for him [I was more sure when he was running against Hillary] and now with the latest McCain tactics I am being drawn to Obama again just b/c McCain's campaign has become immature, petty, and pretty ridiculous (IMHO of course).

He needs to stop whining about everything from imaginary race cards to media love and tell us why he should be president, not why Obama shouldn't - I mean your worst criticism is that he is popular? The media pays attention to him? That something he said that might mean a million things and most likely not race (I believe) is about race? He is getting pretty pathetic.

How do you not talk about something so obvious??? He didn't even specifically mention his race, but I don't think there should be a problem if he did. Candidates talk about their religion and crap all the time, what's the difference?

I agree Lissy, that we should be talking about race, but in a productive way - not to distract or scare. Some months ago, Obama did try to start a dialogue about race - only the response tended to be like trying to have a serious conversation about sex with a room full of giggly pre-teens, only hostile. (Remember discussions about whether Obama dissed his white grandmother?)

I remember an extremely positive response to Obama's race speech during the primary.

As there should have been; it was a good speech.

The line I have a problem with is "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." if he had just left that off it would have past the test for me, but regardless of his intent he should have been smarter than this.

It is true however that campaigners for the RNC have been bending over backwards to turn Sen. Obama's name and origins into a tool of fear and divisiveness.

I think his statement was at least partly, if not fully, an allusion to his race. And why not? It's certainly true that there are people out there campaigning with scare tactics. If not McCain, then certainly Hillary was

But to say that he played the card from the bottom of the deck is a little much.

I think the response from the McCain camp was stronger than warranted.

I agree with many of the comments here. Should Obama just ignore all attacks on his name and ethnic background because if he does they will say he is playing the "race card". He is just pointing out the obvious, republicans have been making a big deal about his skin color and middle name. If would have been running his campaign and talking about being the first black president all the time then I could see McCain making a claim like that. But he doesn't

I think Obama is in a kind of catch-22. If he mentions his race then he is playing the race card, but if he doesn't mention his race at all he isn't "black enough". I agree with what everyone is saying here, they are all valid points.
Because Obama is in a "pioneer" position there will be a lot of both criticism and praise. Like I said, on the one hand trying to win an election based on race rather than ability is wrong and on the other hand if you are trying to be elected you don't want to alienate people and have them think that you are ashamed of your race. Obama has the challenge of striking a balance.
It is a tough one

agreed Bettyjane!

I agree with Pop. His race speech was the result of something (I don't remember now) that had happened during the primaries (Rev. Wright?).

His name has been associated with Muslims and terrorists since the very beginning. I was even verbally ganged up on for these reasons in Fort Smith, Arkansas, by several people in the middle of a freaking Burger King for wearing an Obama T-shirt. But also for things like that snopes.com e-mail that was making the rounds before he even became a serious contender. So I feel he has every right to address it. It's the giant elephant in the room: it shouldn't have to be addressed, but sometimes it's all people can focus on.

I do agree that for every person who won't vote for him because he's 50 percent African American, there will be someone who will vote for him because he is. Well, maybe not split equally b/c of voting trends, but there are those types of people out there.

Actually, the McCain camp has a faulty timeline.
Obama played the race card in a sneaky and underhanded way over a month ago.

From the Wall Street Journal, here's an Obama quote to a group of Florida supporters:
"We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid," Obama said at the fundraiser. "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black? He's got a feisty wife."

http://tinyurl.com/5vkgzw

By continuing to make his race an issue, Obama is attempting to make all criticism of his views and proposals appear to be a racist attack. This is an extremely lame tactic, unworthy of a presidential campaign, and IMO is a sign of a deep-seated insecurity and victim mentality, buried inside a serious narcissistic complex.

All of a sudden I realized that McCain actually maybe possibly could be president. OMG. Nooooooooooo!!!

The more often Obama makes these kinds of remarks, and has "interesting" friends turn up, the more likely it is, janneth.

sigh. I can't WAIT for this election to be over. Seriously.

By the way...who's top talker for July??? My money is on lilkimbo.

harmony, I have to agree with you. I think we all have campaign fatigue. Folks seem to have gotten reactive instead of investigative and analytical.

Harmony, I think that's Kim's goal

HF, I tried spurring Undave to victory, but he keeps slacking off claiming he has children to care for or some other New Age man excuse.

Why only problem with the way this post was worded was the assumption that Bush is racist. Yes, Kayne said Bush was racist, but what actions merit that accusation?

hunter...LOL well she may get it then.

lainetm...Exactly! I guess I just don't see the point. They are so vastly different haven't most people already decided?? The people that would respond to McCain bad mouthing Obama wouldn't be voting for Obama in the first place and vice versa. It's just a bit silly in my opinion. Can we vote now please?

haha my money is on Kim

Harmony, I agree. I'm so over these petty disputes. What do we have like three months left? We can handle it. Maybe we'll miss all the drama when it's gone.

Doesn't every politician play something about themselves to get votes or expel doubt. Their experience, their family or their sex. Race is no different. This is what makes him a new kind of candidate for a lot of people. Right or wrong. He has to address this issue because the other side is addressing it all the time. The RNC is using everything about him to make him seem like something people should fear. He doesn't look like the past but the face of the future. He has a diverse ancestry like many of the people in this nation and I think that would be something positive to focus on. Just my opinion.

I agree 100% jessy777.

Off topic kinda, but did anybody else see the Colbert Report the other night when they ran a reel of racist Fox News clips? Racism is rarely funny but I got a giggle.

So wait...anytime a person makes reference to their own race, they are playing a race card? Isn't that just one fact about who he is? So if I say I am female, am I playing the gender card?

Furthermore, I don't think that his comment was necessarily about race. He does look much younger than other presidents we have had. He is untraditional for many reasons.

Not to mention the fact is that there HAVE been racist attacks against him. So if he acknowledges racist attacks against him HE is playing the race card? Should he pretend that some of these people haven't received the emails?

Do people expect, with exit polls like we saw in the primaries, that we should sincerely act as if race doesn't exist? To overcome a hurdle, you must first acknowledge it is there. Yes, I am different, but look at the ways we are similar.

I am so disappointed where our political system has gone. The national discussion has become so trivial and petty. I, for one, would love to hear an honest discussion about offshore drilling. Not back and forth bickering, but pros and cons, consequences, benefits, success of past attempts.

The thing is that you can find damning evidence for either perspective, it just depends on what site you go to. I don't want to hear about it from a think tank funded by the oil industry or the environmentalists. It seems any perspective can be justified if someone puts it on a web page or cable news channel. And they just want to grab your attention for a few minutes to sell more ad space. Sigh.

I will dream tonight of a gift box filled with facts...

McCain is playing the living dead card, so it's even.

Jillness AND rac!

I have been slacking! There were major speeches made by Obama this month here in the states, and they contained so much information about his ideas on the economy, national security, world relations, energy policy...and yet those don't get covered. Not even by the CNN/MSN/Keith Olbermanns in the news media. I didn't even know about the big things that are covered in these speeches.

Why do we focus on the tabloid style fodder, instead of focusing on the meat of their speeches and policy plans? And this goes for McCain too.

http://www.barackobama.com/speeches/index.php

Here is the link to the speeches.

This will probably get flagged.

"Why do we focus on the tabloid style fodder, instead of focusing on the meat of their speeches and policy plans?"

The MSM cares more about ratings than substance.

Unfortunate.

Jill, I meant to tell you earlier, but I got distracted by other life things... so here it is: You are much to humble, you must be a very active volunteer at Obama

Okay, back to this post. I think the tabloid version of politics works because Americans have such a lifestyle that is go-go and that such condensed things work for our current lifestyle. Not making excuse, just kind of an observation.

"HF, I tried spurring Undave to victory, but he keeps slacking off claiming he has children to care for or some other New Age man excuse."

I'm sorry. From now on, I'll neglect my kids, quit my job, and not do any other activities besides talking on citizen.

Good Dave, do that, and you'll definitely be August's TOP TALKER! Put open jars of peanut butter and jelly near the kids and some spoons - they'll be so proud when they see you in your t-shirt, or when you're trying to make a tent of the shirt cuz you lost the house... You're a dad with a dream, they'll be happy to sacrifice for you.