Attacks, Counterattacks Are Order of Day

By David Jackson and Kathy Kiely

WASHINGTON — So much for “a civil, substantive debate.”

That’s what Barack Obama was predicting when John McCain called on June 4 to congratulate the Democrat on wrapping up his party’s nomination. The two presidential contenders even talked about holding joint town-hall-style meetings.

Instead, McCain and his campaign on Thursday charged Obama with playing the race card. They have also suggested that Obama would rather lose a war than an election, is personally responsible for the rise in gasoline prices and is a celebrity on the order of tabloid divas Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Obama, the first African American nominated for president by a major party, has focused his attacks on McCain’s ideas, frequently comparing his opponent to President Bush and his “failed policies.” Accusing McCain of engaging in “gutter distractions,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe unveiled a website Thursday to counter “smears” from McCain’s campaign.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert in political rhetoric with the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, says both candidates are guilty of unsubstantiated charges. She said Obama went “low-key but lethal” Wednesday when he said McCain and Republicans were fear-mongering.

“What they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama told a Missouri audience. “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 those dollar bills.”

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said Thursday that Obama was playing the race card “from the bottom of the deck,” and McCain said he agreed. “There’s no place in this campaign for that,” McCain told CNN.

Plouffe charged that it is McCain who is using “old, low-road politics” to distract voters. Obama also sent out a fundraising appeal to counter McCain’s “expensive, negative campaign.”

Jamieson said Davis had a point when he accused Obama of playing the race card. Obama’s comment about not looking like other presidents “essentially forecasts that the McCain campaign is going to make his race an issue,” she said. “Where’s the evidence for it?”

She said, however, that McCain’s contention last week that Obama “would rather lose a war in order to win a campaign” is an “illegitimate” attack.

McCain told a Wisconsin audience Thursday that he is “proud of the campaign we have run” and noted that he is pointing out the “stark differences” between himself and Obama.

At this point in the campaign, McCain has been more aggressive and has launched three consecutive ads attacking Obama. In one, an announcer intones, “Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?” And a crowd chants, “Obama! Obama!” Another says Obama “made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops” during his recent trip to Germany. Obama said he canceled a planned visit to a military hospital after Pentagon officials suggested it would be viewed as a political stop. The third ad mocks Obama’s celebrity and asks, “Is he ready to lead?”

Mark Corallo, a GOP consultant who backs McCain, said the former Vietnam prisoner of war should talk more about himself. “Right now, what we’re getting out of Sen. McCain is a lot of attacks on Sen. Obama,” Corallo said. Other Republicans endorsed McCain’s approach. Scott Reed, campaign manager for 1996 nominee Bob Dole, said McCain’s team recognizes the election has become a “referendum” on Obama. “They need to define him quickly.”

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