We say that we want politicians who are “just like me”. Even though McCain has 7 houses and 13 cars and Palin shoots wolves out of helicopters – somehow they are just like me us.

The campaign to smear Obama as “other” has been ongoing from day 1. Right now 13% of Americans believe he is Muslim. And everyday, Talk Radio and the right wing blogs are saying that he wasn’t born in the U.S., he went to an Islamic fundamentalist school, that he is a product of Affirmative Action – meaning he really didn’t deserve to go to college.

And if all that nasty smear mongering doesn’t work, the Repub ground game is working 24/7 to steal the election – just like in the past.

Not every critique of Obama or flattering piece about McCain is racially motivated, of course. That would be absurd to suggest.

I’m not so sure any more.

So Obama has had to expose himself in ways that no white candidate would ever have to. The strategy has to be very different than what would be tolerated with a white candidate. Imagine that it was the black candidate acting as McCain did in the last debate (pouting, grimacing, refusing to look at his opponent, attacking aggressively, making false claims) and the White candidate being the cool, collected, intelligent, and personable. Would the pundits have called it a “tie”? Or would they have suggested that the black candidate was “shrill” and lacked Presidential demeanor, and was unprepared or had lost it.

And the Republicans have to keep hammering at things which suggest that Obama is not who he is and to try and take Obama from out of the public eye. That was why they tried to get the debate cancelled after Obama’s numbers went up. Their major hope was playing the Obama is a dangerous “black” militant in cahoots with the big capitalists on Wall Street! Even the absurd meme that Obama isn’t really a US Citizen has reemerged by the Right Wing Blogosphere!

People are saying that retailers like Circuit City are havig to finance their inventories at 20 percent! This is way beyond meltdown territory.

The Republicans have done a great job of nullifying the race and racist aspect of their efforts by crying “race card” whenever the Obama camp points out racist aspects of the Republicans. At this point even bluntly racist terms like “uppity” are considered innocuous by the corporate press and media. But my impression of the debate is that it projected a racist attitude from McCain. Of course it could be considered non-racial. McCain shows that attitude to just about anyone that doesn’t kiss his feet But the reality of that behavior, when face to face with someone of another race, takes on a racial and racist character.

Elsewhere I’ve described Obama’s projected persona as that of Ritchie Cunningham. He has to avoid appearing to be the angry Black man. There can be no fists in the air (or fist bumping). He has to project that he’s one of you, not one of them. With that in mind I see Obama’s quiet composure and lack of counterattack against a demeaning onslaught as similar to Jackie Robinson. They are both “firsts” and face the same hurdles as firsts. As with Robinson, the quiet determination and obvious possession of skills and talent well worthy of the positions that Obama has had and seeks makes McCain’s disparaging attitude seem racist. Never mentioned in the corporate press is that McCain, though a descendant of multiple Navy admirals is also a descendant of a Mississippi slave master. McCain reminded me of Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican national convention. The “southern strategy” hate that is the core of Reagan Republicanism comes through, even if only subconsciously.

Americans may be racist but they don’t like to be reminded that they are. McCain did that.

P.S. “Devious” reminded me of an NYTimes piece years ago (won’t even try to find a link) that described a 1920s New York Times article on a basketball game. The play of some of the players, whose ethnic background was new to the game, was also described as “devious.” The players were Jews.

The cold hard fact is that racism will be the only reason Obama will not win this election, period, the end.

As John Grisham, a self described Hillary Clinton supporter said before the debate “Obama should have a 15 point lead, but he doesn’t because of his race.”