By Bruce B. Brugmann
You really don’t have to be watching the presidential race that closely to understand the charge of the McCain campaign that Barack Obama, the first African American to have a serious chance to be president, “played the race card.”
It was and is nonsense. I liked the analysis by the media organization FAIR, a media advocacy organization. FAIR stands for Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. I’m glad to see FAIR quoted David Gergen on “This Week” as a “rare exception to the media’s uncritical coverage of McCain’s claims.” Gergen:
“There has been a very intentional effort to paint him a somebody outside the mainstream, other. He’s not one of us. It’s below the radar screen. I think the McCain campaign ahs been scrupulous about not directly saying it. But it’s the subtext of this campaign. Everybody knows it. There are certain kinds of signals. As a native of the South, I can tell you, when yoiu see this Charlton Heston ad, ‘The One,’ that’s code for “he’s uppity.” He ought to stay in his place.’ Everybody gets that who’s from a Southern background.”
Click here to read FAIR’s (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) article titled, Media Fall for ‘Race Card’ Spin: Outraged press ignores McCain’s ties to GOP race-baiting tradition.