So John McCain is claiming great umbrage at Barack Obama's lighthearted comment that Bush and McCain would emphasize that "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
But if John McCain thinks that comment was playing the race card, then why did he play it first? One month ago -- in late June -- a McCain ad superimposed Obama's visage on a one hundred dollar bill as part of an effort to mock Obama's supposed 'presumptuousness.'
McCain attack ad, released June 27, 2008:
(Side note: As you can see, the video's still image is of Obama on currency. Note that the image doesn't occur until about three-quarters of the way through the video. The way YouTube works, the default image occurs at the midpoint. In other words, McCain's campaign affirmatively choose this image.)
As Andrew Sullivan, Chris Bodenner, and Eli Sanders all note, it's clear that the McCain's real strategy on race is to (a) play the race card and then (b) accuse Obama of having played the race card.
As Chuck Todd says: "Anytime race is THE topic du jour in the campaign, it's a bad day for Obama. Period."
And Josh Marshall adds, it's McCain's "only chance."
John McCain understands this is the only way he can win, and that's why he's playing this card, from allegations of reverse racism to transparent attempts to make Barack Obama seem "foreign."
It's all about John McCain's personal ambition. Nothing more, nothing less. And he's willing to dishonor his own name in order to become President.
:: :: ::
Update (7:22PM): smintheus, who (unbeknownst to me) wrote about this yesterday, noted one particularly ugly aspect of the ad -- the way it makes Barack's face look "ghoulish" in its transition to the next set of images.
:: :: ::
I also blog at The Jed Report.