Bringing Up Race -- 'Just In Case'

Politicians are just awful, regardless of party.

But, today's example is a Democrat, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Here's a story from Reuters:

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him.

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"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?"

He said he was also set for Republicans to say "he's got a feisty wife," in trying to attack his wife Michelle.

"We know the strategy because they've already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us," he said.

Obama, born to a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, has cast himself as a candidate who can bridge divides within the country, including those involving race.

It has been rare for him to bring up the topic during his presidential bid. In March he gave a widely praised speech on the subject after receiving criticism over racially charged comments by his longtime pastor.

But here's the problem: So far, I haven't heard squat from the Republican side about race being an issue in the election. In fact, it seems like the Democrats are the ones who are preoccupied with race and gender.

Any criticism Obama received for his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright had nothing to do with race, it had to do with Wright churning out sheer lunacy from the pulpit -- the U.S. government created AIDS, the U.S. is a terrorist empire, etc.

And, contrary to what the senator may think, the Republicans also haven't criticized his wife, Michelle, for being "feisty," as he believes; people questioned his wife because she stood in front of cameras and microphones and said questionable things, things that cause people to wonder if she shares the same views as Wright, that America is nothing more than a racist nation hell-bent on keeping down the brown people.

But it's the way the left works -- they put someone in front of a camera and they say things, but then no one is allowed to respond to what they've said: Michelle Obama can say whatever she wants, but you can't debate her because she's black and she's Obama's wife; Cindy Sheehan can talk about politics and policy all she wants, but you can't debate her because she's a mom who lost a son to war. The "Jersey Girls" can campaign for John Kerry and criticize U.S. policy, but you can't debate them because they lost their husbands in a terrorist attack.

I've got news for Obama -- people aren't afraid of you because you're "young and inexperienced." People are afraid of you because you pander to the lowest, most unproductive segments of America at the expense of the working middle class.

People aren't afraid of you because you've "got a funny name," they're afraid of you because you want to take all their money and give it to other people who don't deserve it.

I'm not afraid of you because you're black, I'm afraid of you because you're a liberal, and that's much more frightening.