Racism - McCain Campaign Depends Upon It

An interesting article in the New York Times illustrates just how critical racism is the the McCain campaign. Promoting, and using racism is critical to John McCain's chance of winning in the 2008 Presidential Election.

Read how a McCain staffer refers to lower class elderly white Catholics who live in all white neighborhoods:

“I’m spending a lot of time in Philadelphia,” said Robert Gleason, the chairman of the state Republican Party.

“We’re working the Northeast,” he said, referring to a largely white part of the city. “We’ve got values voters up there, Catholics. My people up there say they can carry four to six wards this year, and four years ago, they carried none.”

Presumably that would mean that the wealthier whites in Central Philadelphia who back Barack Obama, and the black voters in Philadelphia too - have no values. I doubt that is what is being said. No, the phrase is code for white racist voters.

Again, from the NYT Article:

“Hillary won some of those white wards by 10 to 1,” said Shanin Specter, son of Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, and a lawyer who is steeped in local politics. “Obama is likely to significantly underperform Kerry and Gore in those white row-house wards.”

The state Republican Party has begun running advertisements highlighting Mr. Obama’s ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his former pastor, which could tap into concerns among white voters.

The Obama campaign is fully aware of the challenge.

“This is a tough ward,” said Paul Rossi, 61, a data processor who lives in the neighborhood and is helping out at an Obama office that opened Saturday not far from Marconi Park. “It’s a matter of convincing people culturally that they won’t be harmed by Obama.”