Race in the Race for the Presidency

The main message of the Obama campaign is that Barack Obama is a new type of candidate that will engage in a different kind of politics. But Obama's recent comments on race in Jacksonville look like typical Democratic tactics, not some kind of transformative politics. Story from Reuters.

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"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?"

It looks as if Obama is trying to portray the Republicans as a party willing to use racism as part of its campaign tactics. That's really new, isn't it. We've never heard this from a Democrat before. Oh wait, we have.

I agree with Ed Morrissey who says: "Without noting a single supporting piece of evidence, Obama cast any opposition to him as bigotry." Claiming that a group is willing to use racist tactics is a serious accusation, and should be treated as such. If Obama is going to claim that the Republicans are going to use race against him, be prepared to give a few examples. Otherwise, you're just throwing around accusations to throw around accusations.

Additionally, you can't preemptively accuse someone of doing something. Last time I checked, The Minority Report (a movie in which people are arrested for crimes before they commit them) was science fiction. If you're going to accuse someone of a wrong, it can't be in the form of a prediction. The wrong that you are accusing someone of doing has to have actually occurred for the accusation to be valid. Show me the evidence, otherwise silence would be especially golden.

I thought only the Republicans used the "politics of fear."