Obama Is Too Pleased with Himself, Part 2

After first ridiculing the celebrity status of Democrat Barack Obama, Republicans now mock his alleged attempt to portray himself as a Messiah.

“Let everyone know that in 2008 the world will be blessed,” so begins the latest ad by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, about his opponent Barack Obama.

The alleged messiah-like tendencies of Obama are mocked in the ad. In it, one hears part of the speech that Obama gave when he finally defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic battle. Obama suggested then that this might later be seen as the moment, “when the rise of the oceans began to fall.“

One can also see (in the ad) how Obama told the voters that a light from heaven would shine, and how they would “experience an epiphany that: I just must vote for Barack.” The fact that Obama meant all this in a sarcastic vein is lost in the short clip.

He may be the “True One,” the ad says mockingly, but, “is he ready to lead the country?” At the end, one even sees actor Charlton Heston, as Moses parting the Red Sea.

Obama’s campaign reacted immediately and called the web ad “unfortunate” and an example of “juvenile antics.” Commentator Ben Smith from Politico has the extended response from Obama.

The McCain ad builds on an earlier TV ad, which mocked Obama’s star status. The ad showed the huge mass of people that came to listen to Obama in Berlin. Interspersed were the faces of starlet Paris Hilton and singer Britney Spears.

The message was that Obama is famous because of his celebrity status, not because he has good plans. Then too, the ad concluded with the question, “Is he ready to lead the country?” This second message is meant to again create the image that Obama is too pleased with himself, that he has big ideas without having the experience.

That ad hit like a bomb in America, tells us another journalist at Politico. It drew a sharp response from Obama himself. He called the ad part of an attempt by the Republican Party to make the voters afraid of him. They will say: “He has a funny name, and he doesn’t look like all the presidents on the dollar bills.”

The McCain campaign went into full counterattack mode. Obama supposedly played the “race card.” Because the difference with the presidents on the dollar bills is that they are white and Obama is not. McCain spokespersons also pointed to a similar old remark where Obama warned an audience about what they are not going to say about him. “And, did I mention that he’s black?” Obama said then.

Did he play the race card, or not? Or did McCain very subtly attempt to introduce the race card and then blame Obama for it. Andrew Romano of Newsweek opts for the latter in a Contributor’s piece, and also provides an overview of all that was said.

Jake Tapper of ABC News saw Obama’s (comments) as a barely disguised way to accuse the Republicans of racism. In his contribution, Tapper suggests that Obama crossed the line.

Reuters, in an analysis, examines why race is an important issue in the upcoming elections. The New York Times reports that Obama is dealing very carefully with the controversy, now that “the cat is out of the bag.” The newspaper argues that an extensive discussion on race is not to Obama‘s advantage.

McCain, with his own attack, covered himself against a possible attack by Obama in the future over race. He would not want to go through the same treatment that Bill Clinton underwent during the Democratic battle. He was accused of playing the race card against Obama.

The McCain campaign used that argument at the same time to say something nice about Clinton, says Jack Tapper once again. No doubt in the hope of winning the still-angry Clinton voters.