I will never forget the looks of simmering rage on the faces of the nearly all-white crowd when he told them that his ancestors had fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and then added, "They fought on the wrong side of American history. That, my friends, is how I personally feel about the Confederate battle flag."

It goes without saying that it would have been more courageous had he denounced the flag during the primary battle. Nonetheless, one could sense his failure to do so had weighed heavily upon his conscience. He didn't have to return to give that speech. But he did. A racist would not have done so.

Forward to the present: By feigning indignation and accusing Obama of "playing the race card," McCain returns to the politics of expediency. No, McCain didn't run that ad because he doesn't like black people. No one really believes that anyway. So the "race card" retort is just a straw-man, debating tactic—that is, misrepresenting an opponent's argument and then shooting that argument down.

McCain ran the ad because he knows there are a lot of white people who are inclined to believe the worst in a black politician. (Ask any reporter who's been on the campaign trail what many blue-collar white voters in places like Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio are saying about Obama.) That's political expediency. Not racism.

McCain employs highly skilled media people. They know exactly the kind of reaction his ad would evoke from a certain segment of the electorate. Maureen Dowd said it well in her Sunday column this week, pointing out that in a recent New York Times poll that only 31 percent of white voters said they had a favorable opinion of Obama compared to 83 percent of blacks who did. She drew the conclusion that "the prejudice is visceral: Many Americans, especially blue collar, still feel uneasy about the Senate's exotic shooting star."

Republican accusations of elitism against Democrats are nothing new (the John Kerry wind-surfing hullabaloo being the latest example in a presidential election). But they will take on added resonance this year against Obama, a candidate whom many voters will be already inclined to dislike.

Snobbish. Arrogant. Presumptuous.

Is he? Probably, yes. Then again, what politician isn't a little bit of all three? It takes a special kind of gall to suggest that you should be the leader of the free world. John McCain, who has run for president twice, should know that as well as anyone.

Terry M. Neal is a former Washington Post political reporter. He is a media consultant and senior vice president of The Caraway Group in Washington, D.C.

Also on The Root:

Terry M. Neal preps Obama for the GOP smear machine, Jack White gives Obama nine points to live by, and Terence Samuel gives him a congratulatory nod.

Return to The Root Homepage