Oops, He Did It Again

Oops, He Did It Again



By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, July 31, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Politics: John McCain dares to suggest Barack Obama is all style and no substance, a celebrity like Britney Spears. Meanwhile, the post-racial candidate hits the GOP with the race card, baby, one more time.


When a candidate says things like "we are the ones we have been waiting for," stages a campaign rally before 200,000 Germans ineligible to vote but hoping to touch his garment, and proclaiming himself a "citizen of the world," his critics may be forgiven for suggesting, as some have said of Paris Hilton, that he is famous for being famous.

McCain's camp has blasphemed against The One by noting his celebrity status in a campaign commercial that includes Mademoiselles Spears and Hilton. McCain's ad asks the obvious question: Is the man who sends tingles up and down the legs of MSNBC's Chris Matthews ready to lead? We think not.

The Obama camp has gone bonkers at the suggestion that he's an elitist in an empty Armani suit who can take time to shoot three-pointers but is too busy to visit vets in a German hospital.

They object to the statement of McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, that "only celebrities like Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand 'Met-Rx chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew — Black Forest Berry Honest Tea' and worry about the price of arugula."

Campaigning in Adel, Iowa, last year, Obama complained to America's farmers: "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they're charging a lot of money for this stuff." They're charging a whole lot of money for gas, too, but Obama opposes domestic drilling to increase supply and put downward pressure on that price.

During a book tour stop on NBC's "Today" show promoting the senator's book "Audacity of Hope," host Meredith Vieira hailed Obama, Oprah Winfrey's choice for president, as a "rock star" and "electrifying." Commenting on his 2004 convention speech, Vieira said: "Many people, afterwards, they weren't sure how to pronounce your name, but they were moved by you. People were crying."

Despite his rock star status, Obama's 2008 world tour did not produce the expected bounce in polls that are tightening, with one having McCain in the lead. Perhaps with a hint of panic, Obama, the post-racial candidate, has decided to play the race card again.

As McCain's commercial was being released, Obama was in Springfield, Mo., telling voters that Republicans will try to "make you scared of me — you know, 'he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.' "

If this sounds familiar, it echoes remarks Obama made in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this year. "We know what campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid," Obama said at a fundraiser. "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?"

Obama is young and inexperienced. There will be no adoring crowds chanting his name at 3 a.m. in the White House. The real issue is not the color of Barack Obama's skin, but the thickness of it. If you can't stand the heat, put down the arugula and get out of the kitchen.

Obama reminds us of the role Robert Redford played in the 1972 film "The Candidate." A charismatic novice manages to eke out a narrow win over an aging veteran senator. Up in his hotel room, the victorious candidate looks up at his campaign managers and asks, "What do we do now?"

That is what should make voters afraid.



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