Mike Murphy: Playing the Race Card for McCain

Today on Meet the Press, Mike Murphy called the Paris/Britney/Barack ad stupid. He's completely correct, but that doesn't keep him from tacitly pushing forward the racist language that is being used to discredit Obama.

While David Gergen has said that McCain is using loaded words in his ads to play the race card against Obama, Mike Murphy did it on behalf of the McCain team on live television.

Murphy referred at least twice to McCain trying to seem like the more "adult" of the two major candidates.

Speaking of the VP choices, he said:

One strategy the McCain guys could do is pick somebody who's all about national security to try to move the campaign more there. Go pick a Bob Gates, I mean, somebody totally out of the politics world to say, "We are the competent adults on national security," and try to make the election more about that to play to McCain's strengths, which, because of the surge, are getting stronger and stronger. Not what the Democrats would've thought a year ago on Iraq.

Later, talking about the convention/Hillary Clinton:

MURPHY: I will make one convention prediction. I think Hillary Clinton will give a pretty well-received speech, actually. I don't think she'll be the keynote. But -- and I can't ever prove this, but I'll predict she votes for John McCain. I'm going to be watching those Chappaquiddick poll results very closely. She wants an adult...

MS. MITCHELL: Chappaqua.

MR. MURPHY: Chappaqua, excuse me. She wants -- yeah, still politics.

MR. TODD: You Republicans are programmed...(unintelligible).

MR. MURPHY: No, no, no, no. I believe it. I would bet money if there's a way to prove it, because she wants to race in four years. She'll be back. She'll never stop running. And she wants an adult on foreign policy, and that's OK.

Murphy went on MTP today and called Obama something other than adult. This about a United States Senator. But also a black Senator. Murphy, as a professional political operative, could not possibly be unaware of the racial implications of what he said, could he? He might as well have said "stay in your place." As all white people (should) know, that's been the implicit message leveled toward blacks in this country since the end of reconstruction.

Interestingly, Murphy's whole performance on MTP revolved around this idea of what seems juvenile or doesn't, so his rhetorical choices are more than flukes. His criticism of the now infamous attack ad revolved around it being juvenile, meaning that the reason he thought it was stupid is that it made Barack look more grown up than he should, according to Murphy, seem. What a horrible line of argument.

There is a difference between pointing out what one sees as a deficit of experience, which is an entirely debatable affair, and resorting to racist insinuations that Obama is getting uppity.

Murphy's choice of words on MTP was disgusting, and he should apologize for them.

Comments

[CyrusBeaucephus]

America is a racist country--expect more racist comments

[rayj412]

onceler

I am thinking that if the MSM were to bring that up they would all have to do some back tracking. That faux hundred dollar bill has been out there since June 27th I believe. Weeks before Obama made his statement. Hmmmm! They would have to face the fact that perhaps McCain's campaign was indeed trying to make the case that he doesn't look like the other presidents on the dollar bill. Then they would be looking real dumb. So I am guessing it is not going to happen. Tho it would be nice for them to be fair about the issue.

[onceler]

how did we make it through this ENTIRE weekend without one major media outlet of some kind mentioning that yes, as it turns out, John McCain's campaign has already made an ad, up on his own Youtube channel, making fun of the image of Obama's face on US money. how? how the hell does this not matter? do ANY journalists in this country do ANY research at all?

[mesut]

I'm still waiting for someone to call Obama "boy". They haven't made that slip yet but by the language used McCain and his camp may as well have.

I hate this topic of race because it is never discussed but batted about with no conclusion--not one most want to discuss anyway.

[cindyw]

Someone did. My congressman, the odious Geoff Davis (R-KY), said in April about Obama, "That boy doesn't need to have his finger on the button". He tried to say he was referring to Obama's youth, even though 46 isn't young, and we all know what "boy" means when referring to a black man, especially in KY.

[heal57]

Well, Davis and the rest of them will just have to get over it, won't they? The "boy" is the next President of the United States, and I'll take his hand on any button rather than a war monger republicans' any time.


Independent for Obama '08

[LanosIceland]

That flight landed a long time ago, way back in Febuary I believe, when the honorable congressman from Kentuck said "we don't need that boy's hand on the red button".

It difficult to siphon the intentions of people these days because racism has become very institutionalised. Here's an example:

Mark Kriegel, from Fox Sports.com 'is shocked and surprised at the shameful behaviour' of Packers quarterback Bret Favre, because 'he's gone from being an icon, to just another superstar who puts himself the team. You expected this from Manny Ramirez (hispanic), who dogged his way out of Boston. Or maybe Kobe Bryant (black), who demanded a trade after the Lakers didn't deal Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd. But Favre? '

Why is this behaviour so shocking, coming from Favre but not the other two?

[MPeter]

Most of the Republican operatives have so programmed with racism, they will do it even in their sleep. It is shocking that people are shocked when they hear people like Murphy, Buchanan or Will spout their racism. They just don't know how not to be racist.

[MWChris]

I, for one, was sorry to see Obama back off his comments about how McCain campaign will portray him. Obama was 100% correct -- they have and will continue to make implied appeals to racial stereotypes, just as Murphy did today and just as Rick Davis and McCain himself did last week. Davis' outburst last week was designed to play to racial prejudices and to drive a wedge between Obama and white voters, particularly those to whom McCain is appealing in places like PA and OH.

[moda31]

it's amazing that a grown man nearing 50 years of age can consistently be defined as young and immature, you'd think nobody under the age of 50 had ever run for president before let alone gone on to govern at such a "tender" age. the republicans and many in the media insist on portraying and interacting with obama as though he were a small child barely capable of tying his shoes, there's legitimate reason to believe that wouldn't be the case if he were another boring middle aged white guy.

[swift goat pet for truth]

You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.

For example, take a US senator, when asked about a foreign nation that disagrees with the US, started to sing: "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran".

[kravitz]

Just come out and say it.

Murphy means to call Obama " BOY " as in southern slang for a black man who is supposed to be SERVING A WHITE MASTER.

I'm getting tired of the beating around the bush.

[GrainOSand]

For purposes of context, and to support subsequent statements, a history of the playing card as object is provided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card

Let us look at the concept of a manufactured object versus the end-use of same object. The race card suggests a card in a deck of cards that can be played as a tactic or strategy in a game. It could and should be considered ridiculous for manufacturers of a deck of cards containing a race card to find fault with anyone who would point out the presence of the card in the deck and its use in the games that are played. This is what Barack Obama did. He stated the game that is played and the cards that are used to play it. It is in his best interest to inform the public of how the deck is stacked with cards of disrespect and divide.

Barack Obama is not a manufacturer of cards (America manufactured racial divide not Obama) but he is a student of card games and thus is aware how a joker can be dealt from the bottom of the deck to sully the quality of what otherwise is a respectful game. Since he sees being elected as a collaborative effort involving a national community of the concerned, he simply sought to remind his team of the games that are played by the other side and how they might introduce (have introduced) a card with divisive and distracting properties.

[uheardme]

Hillary did the same thing during the primary and Representative Artur Davis and Elijah Cummings (my fav congressmen) called her and her campaign on it. We get it. Most Black Americans get it....I think even a few White Americans get it, which is why the Republican Party will continued to be ignored by Blacks despite their lame attempts at reaching out.

[tammanycall]

It's an interesting POV, but I'm more inclined to see those comments as a swipe at Hillary. (And I'm PRO-bama All the Way). There's an implication that she's a bad Democrat, petty, sore loser, etc. And Murphy's got a history of belittling HRC on MTP in particular, whereas he's liked Obama in the past.
I do think he was simulateously trying to call Obama a youngin', but there's something funny about calling a 46 YEAR OLD MAN "young". It reflects more on the "oldness" of your candidate than the youth of your opponent.
Lastly, we need to be careful about calling for everyone to apologize. They'll never do it, and it makes us look like complainers. Mockery is a far better option. If we can expose their tactics as ridiculous and desperate, and make people laugh while we're doing it, we win.

[MPeter]

They are all racist Rethugs who would rather see this country eviscerated by another brain dead albino, just the same way Bush senior inflicted his retarded son on us. Now we have to endure a failed soldier, 70-years old who graduated 5th last but has had no shame pimping his captivity for political office. God save America.

[swift goat pet for truth]

They are not racists.

But they will certainly play the race card to get the power they really want.
And that makes them worse than racists.

[Thorn]

You've got to strain awfully hard to find racism in those comments.

[SpoxLogic]

calling a grown man a boy, especially a grown Black man - is racist, Thorn. It's racist in that the whole idea is to demean the individual­...and it's the classic and racist means of demeaning any Black man.

[MegWe]

Yes-agreed. That IS the point!
This whole line of attack the Republicans are engaged in is stomach turning.

[Thorn]

What about the many other ways of calling Obama "inexperienced"? Are those racist, too?

[robXdion]

Not if you're familiar with racist or Southern attitudes, you don't.