Robert S. McElvaine: The Ludacris-Rove-McCain Axis

There they go again. The McCain campaign is charging that "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," proclaimed McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. Anyone who takes a moment to consider the accusation should see its absurdity. "Playing the race card" became a cliché when Johnnie Cochran used a racial appeal to gain the acquital of O.J. Simpon in 1995. He was able to do so because the jury was 75 percent African American. In contrast, nearly 90 percent of the "jury" that Barack Obama will face in November -- the electorate -- will be composed of voters who are not of the race with which he identifies himself. Given that mathematical fact, it would be supreme stupidity for Sen. Obama to "play the race card." Whatever else his opponents may throw at him, none of them accuses him of being stupid. "The race card" is something that is only played by someone who can hope to use it to produce a ... (link)