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Has McCain gone too far?
Yes, of course he has gone too far. He and his surrogates are using a McCarthyite campaign of red-baiting innuendo together with Nixonian racism. They've been playing to the know-nothing faction of the American right. Look at Michelle Bachmann. She didn't even have the courage to say that Obama or anyone else was un-American, she "merely suggested" that it might be the case. Disgusting. McCain distanced himself from racist supporters in Minnesota -- in a cleverly racist way that allows him to continue to benefit from the whispering campaign. Here's what he said: "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about. He's not [an Arab]." If he truly wished to disavow the racist elements of his supporters, he needed to say something like Colin Powell did on Sunday.
People say he's not a racist, but what do you call a person who allows these statements to be made in his name and says nothing to stop it?
It's an odd choice of strategies. As if Obama weren't enough, he's motivating African-Americans like never before. The racism of his campaign is killing him in places like NM and Colorado. He's losing the Hispanic vote by about 70 - 20, and that's not going to improve. Bush did much better with Hispanics.
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