Running While Black

On August 2, 2008, Bob Herbert wrote a pointed op-ed in The New York Times declaring, "Spare me any more drivel about the high-mindedness of John McCain. You knew something was up back in March when, in his first ad of the general campaign, Mr. McCain had himself touted as "the American president Americans have been waiting for."

Herbert went on to list a number of attempts by McCain to position Senator Obama as the Other, "certainly not one of us" through ads that were "foul, poisonous."

Noting that "Mr. Obama has to endure these grotesque insults with a smile," Herbert defended Obama's statements to a Missouri audience that caused McCain to cry RACE CARD! See post on 8/1/12. "Senator McCain is the head of a party that has viciously exploited race for political gain for decades. He's obviously more than willing to continue that nauseating tradition," said Herbert.

The "Other" Label

By August 2008, the tone of the presidential campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain was growing negative. The Wall Street Journal noted the re-entry of the issue of race into the campaign when McCain accused Obama of "playing the race card." Obama had told crowds in rural Missouri that the McCain campaign would try to make voters "scared of me...he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

In 2012, President Obama still battles the "other" label. A July study by Pew Research Center shows that while 16% of conservative Republicans identified Obama as a Muslim in 2008, that number has grown to 34% today. Obama identifies himself as a Christian.