Rachel brings up the Harold Ford white girl ad

[Coexist]

and won't back down when Gregory says, "Oh, now thats just silly"

Rachel: "So why didn't they use Oprah, a black female celebrity?"

Thanks again, Rachel!

[AspenRose]

1. I lurve you, Rachel!

:bounce:

[my2sense]

3. She's Wonderful

:toast:

[hisownpetard]

4. She's the best!

[Median Democrat]

2. I Thought The Same Thing!

When I saw the ad, I thought about the Harold Ford Ad. Glad I am not paranoid. Or, at least, that there are other people who are just as paranoid.

[chimpymustgo]

5. Rachel is completely misreading this. It's about being empty - not a damn thing

to do with race. Dumb.

[Bolo Boffin]

10. I disagree.

Both Paris and Britney are known for their sexuality. Superimposing shots of them over Obama is all about exciting the dark imaginings of racists.

John McCain should be ashamed of himself. He was blasted with the race card in 2000, and now here he is using it. Of course, when you flip on torture after being tortured, what's a little race bashing?

[Fleshdancer]

6. I saw that....

The other side is trying to say that they decided to use Paris Hilton and Britney Spears because they're "famous for the sake of being famous". I agree this is true for Hilton, but as much as I can't stand her music, this just isn't the case for Spears - recent melt down or not.

From my google search: Spears is ranked as the eighth best-selling female recording artist in the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America with 31 million certified albums and one of the world's best-selling music artists having sold an estimated 83 million records worldwide.

I honestly think Rachel is on to something about the black guy/white girl issue.

[Bolo Boffin]

7. That and the coming ads like it should always be called the "White Woman" ads.

I'm glad that Rachel brought this up.

Did she mention that the same guy who did the Harold Ford ads is now working for John McCain?

[27inCali]

8. yeah, it's dogwhistle time alright.

[elkston]

9. I think Rachel is jumping the gun on this one.

I love her to death, but she pulled the trigger a bit too soon on this one.

As others have noted, I interpret the theme as "Style without substance". Obama talks a good game and is popular, but is an "empty suit". That's the message they are trying to convey.

Now, if they had used Scarlett Johanssen in there actually talking about how much she likes Barack and then started uses phrases like "Everyone loves him, etc.. etc..". THEN it would definitely be the black dude/white girl thing. This time its just a coincidence.

Beleive me, I am not saying the McCain camp won't go racial later, or continue to passively allow the 527s to go crazy. Its just that I don't see it in *THIS* ad.

P.S. --

I do agree that the whole presumptuous / arrogant line of attack DOES have racial overtones, however.

[Merlot]

13. There are no coincidences in politics

Someone said that before me, not sure who.

[proud patriot]

11. Rachel Rocks

[babylonsister]

12. Bill Press agrees:

John McCain Plays the Race Card
Bill Press
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust

Posted July 31, 2008 | 09:33 AM (EST)


"I have great admiration and respect for Senator Obama."

If so, McCain has a funny way of showing it. All we've seen and heard from him for the last month is a string of personal attacks, culminating in yesterday's ad smearing Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." He's just another famous, pretty face, in other words, and not ready for the presidency.

True? No. Childish? Yes. But that's not all. This ad is also deliberately and deceptively racist.

Of all the famous celebrities they could have compared Obama to, why not Tom Cruise? Or Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Donald Trump, or Oprah Winfrey? Why Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Why two white blond bimbos?

Only one reason. It's a somewhat tamer version of the white bimbo ad used so successfully against Harold Ford in Tennessee. In juxtaposing Barack Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, the McCain campaign is simply trying to plant the old racist seed of black man hitting on young white woman. Not directly, but subliminally and disgracefully.

One thing for sure. This isn't the John McCain we first saw in 2000, running a campaign on the issues. And this isn't the positive McCain campaign he himself promised us for 2008. This is a campaign that, from the beginning, is nothing but negative, personal, dirty and, yes, racist.

[nc4bo]

14. Rachel is da boooooomb!!! nt

[ram2008]

15. She's completely wrong on this-

I love Rachel but..

The Ad showing flashes of Brittney spears had nothing to do with Racism. I just don't see how one can come to that conclusion.

Paris and Brittney share the same things in common that the McCain campaign is trying to say about Obama

1) The media is fascinated with them no matter what they do. Brittney loses her children, Paris goes to jail etc.

2) They're airheads who pretty much have no brains at all. This plays into the Obama is an empty suit memo.

3) They have cult like following like the whole "Leave Brittney Alone" thing and "Free Paris from jail." Playing into the idea that Obama's supporters are blind followers who stay by him no matter what.

There isn't one element of racism in the ad.

[chimpymustgo]

19. Thank you for your sophisiticated analysis. Let's cry race when it's real. And you can bet,

it WILL be at some point. We dilute the charges when they are made recklessly.

[Cha]

16. david gregory is a silly a$$ media

whore..thanks Rachel!

[TahitiNut]

17. I wonder if I'm too old to have Rachel's babies.

She's just AMAZING ... bright, incisive, direct, honest ... and lovely.

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. The Worthless Harold Edsel Ford complained about the ad

but not the one they did on Obama.

[rasputin1952]

20. I figure this is the "feelout" stage in the upcoming "race card"...

fiasco.

The GOP is trying to get a "feel" as to how far they can go w/this, if there is outrage, the race "issue" will go to the back burner, quietly simmering away, (to be used later).

They are trying to be coy, it isn't going to work...they know precisely what they are doing, and by putting this out there, they are testing the waters...albeit, out of sheer desperation.

[elkston]

21. Interesting point. Might be true. n/t

[rasputin1952]

22. Think of it this way...

has been using the "race" issue for years, it has paid off for them in various areas of the country.

These days, people are far more tolerant than they were just a few decades ago, but there is no way they can overtly come out and say Obama is "bad because he's black". The idea is to plant seeds in the minds of the people who take the bait...ie...black male/2 blonde white women known for their exploits.

It doesn't take a Mensa quality to see what they are doing. It is what the GOP can do best, denigrate anyone who come up against them. I am of German heritage...I am almost sure, someone, somewhere in GOP Nirvana, would try to tie me a Nazi if I ran for PotUS...:eyes:

These people have no scruples, no moral line exists, they are the lowest of the low, and every day they come out w/stuff like this, they show the world how low they can go.

[Barack_America]

23. Agreed. Oprah is at least as big a celebrity...

And, unlike Paris or Britney, she's actually associated with Obama.

[BeyondGeography]

24. The most important point of all

Blonde girls, black guy. Call the Interracial Sex Police. DUHHHHHHH!!!!!

You're just silly, Gregory.