Billy,

I'm confused. At the end of your post you say:

The gender card is out there, and it is working to Mr. Obama's advantage.

Do you mean "race card" instead?

I think Billy's point is that the race card won't necessarily be obvious. I think his point is that in the political commentary, they will use any actions that could possibly play into a specific characteristic of a stereotype.

Like with Clinton. The successful use of the gender card would result in someone saying not "I'm not voting for her because she's a woman," but "Did you see how she was all over the place? She's definitely irrational. Kinda wacky. You want someone like that in the White House?"

The voter might not even recognize that the reason the attack or smear had so much effect is because it played into already existing and deep-seated stereotypes.

The race card has been played, over and over again throughout this race. The theme is out there and it ain't going away.

Will Obama call the opposition on it? Nope. He doesn't want this election to be about race. He knows the importance of it. He had to address it in the Philadelphia speech. But, he moved on to the issues that he feels ought to be the focus on the campaign.

The card has been drawn and it will be drawn ad nauseum. Will it become more overt? Probably. Will there be outrage? Probably. But, I don't think it will be coming from Obama. Not if he can avoid it.

The dog whistle I'm hearing is "He's a (black) hustler." A guy shows up out of nowhere, has no obvious (legal) means of support, dressed sharp & lookin' fine, but dealin', 24/7. And that image brings with it everything needed to sow doubt (and fear): ruthless, coke-dealin', hookers, guns, concealment, all of it follows from "hustler." The fact that he's from Chicago, looks good, dresses sharp, words come easy, 1/2 black and 1/2 white - all of that resonates with an image like "hustler." And it's far more powerful - and frightening - than "naive" or "messianic."

With Hillary, I didn't find it was the "tears/weak/emotional" or the "irrational/wacky" that whistled to me. It was Glenn Close. The kind of woman that men fear are actually conniving, a bit demented, dangerous - who stalk what they want, relentlessly. Hell, that noise was out there daily. And again, like "hustler" there's just enough in HRC's bio that resonated. Which is why things like the "non-concession" speech, the RFK comment and others struck deeper than HRC supporters thought they should.

Fast Eddie and Bunny Boiler Hillary? As Billy says, you don't actually have to say something narrowly racist or sexist to evoke this stuff. Just start mentioning card games and Obama, or Hillary's relentlessness, and you're blowin' the whistle.

Which is why "flip-flop" seems to me to be so weak a label for McCain. And "McSame/"Bush's 3rd term." Look, the guy was a POW, got tortured, didn't take the easy way out, and says what he thinks (even if he reverses himself weekly.) So flip-flop or same don't resonate for me, even if "factually" they're true.

What DOES register a bit with me is that he may have a "screw loose," be explosive, a bit of a "nut-job." The kinda guy who came back from the war (any war) and you always had to just sliiiightly give him some distance. Who might say or DO anything. And McCain IS explosive. Called his wife nasty names. Says whatever he wants, sometimes nutty things. Bomb bomb bomb Iran. And who might, if he were in the White House, "throw a rod" and go off. "Addled" may work as well. Like racism & sexism, these are not things that'll get said straight up very much (nor should they be.) But there's a dozen ways clever spinners will fed these phrases in.

And yeah, as human beings, this is nasty. Really nasty. But humans aren't just processors of objective bits/bytes of info. They got their nasty bits. Well, Billy does. Me? Niiiice, all the way down.

Great comments, Billy, then and now. I was disgusted with the Brooks piece and the racism was none-to-subtle for me. However, I suspect you are right about how it will play. There is a reason why these clowns have been in control for more than 40 years. They understand the American psyche very well. Intuitive blog.

about time the media start seeing this guy for who he is. funny thing, in 1998 i was on the internet chat rooms arguing with everyone regarding how dangerous george bush was. i lost friends and even family told me i was over reacting. i remember my best friend who is republican told me "michelle, i think you are over reacting....how much damage can one man do in four years". i feel that OBAMA is as dangerous for the country as GW. the OBAMABOTS sound and excuse everything he does just like the BUSHIES did. i believe he is just as much a mistake to the country as GW. i strongly believe that MCCAIN is not perfect but with a dem congress and senate he will do less damage than OBAMA could ever do.

Billy,

The "Fast Eddie" David Brooks is referring to is not Fast Eddie Felson but "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak, the 10th Ward Chicago Alderman and leader of The 29, the 29 white alderman who aggressively opposed Chicago's first (and only) black mayor, Harold Washington. Fast Eddie, as coined by columnist Mike Royko, was perhaps the last of a breed of Machine fixer-pols, a political who could make a problem disappear with a phone call or create headaches into perpetuity with a simple visit to an administrative office. He made much of his money by representing victims of an "El" train collision and derailment that happened right outside his offices, legend has it that he walked among the ambulances and paramedic trucks, passing out his business card to the paramedics (whom he knew would give that card to the victim if the victim would asked about lawyers, it's one of the first things a conscious victim will say to an EMT) and pressing his card into the hands of victims laying on gurneys.

Fast Eddie Vrdolyak was also effective. During after a blizzard that show down the City, Fast Eddie made a deal with the local Steel companies and steelworkers union, he conviced them to attach blows to their big trucks and clean the streets of the 10th ward. While the rest of the City choked, traffic in the 10th Ward flowed. He wasn't very principled, but he made sure the garbage was collected and the pot holes were filled and he was for a time, very popular.

He was also very, very corrupt.

Brooks used to work for City News Services in Chicago, so he understands Chicago politics. His juxtaposition of the Chicago Lakefront liberal reform politician vs. the hard-bitten Machine pol is purposeful, but it's not race-baiting. Brooks is saying Obama is the fusion of two specific and contradictory archetypal Chicago politicians, the Northwestern/University of Chicago educated reform candidate who typically lives on Chicago's North and South Side Lakefronts, and the sharp-elbowed opportunist from the working class and middle-class ethnic neighborhoods. He's not saying he's one or the other as much as warning Republicans that if they believe the Clinton campaign rhetoric of Obama as a Stevenson elitist, they are in for a hurtin'. I don't think Clinton campaign believed it, but they understood that that was they best way to run against him. The mistake for the Republicans is to mistake Clinton's strategic positioning of Obama for fact.

Hey Billy,
Well, I've been the target of both issues-- having been accused of being "too hard nosed" in the work place simply because I had strong opinions, and being the target of racism as a person of color-- a mestizo.

I live in a mostly white city now. I'm no shrinking violet. But I'll tell you, as a woman and a person of color, the subtle and yet very clear acts of racism I've experienced here have left a lasting effect on me and have made me feel more alienation than all the sexism I've been ever been exposed to.

In the end, if you're a white woman in downtown Manhattan and you're trying to get a taxi at 11pm, you'll get picked up-- no problem. Not true for the woman, who is black or brown.

The subtlest forms of racism are the most insidious. Easier to fight your enemy when you know where he stands. The snake in the grass is harder to defend against. And I've lured a few out in my day.

Broder, you ol' snake in the grass! We got your number. Next time you show your face we'll stomp you out!

One more thought. I lived in Germany from 1983- 1992. Something I noticed at that time was that as the older generation started to die off (the old Nazis and people who had to rationalize their stances during the war) the new generation appeared to be free of xenophobia and was much more accepting of different cultures life styles.

I can't help but feel that we are going through a similar period here in the US. For the first time in my life, I get the sense that this and future generation will be much more free of gender, race and cultural stereotypes. It's an exciting thought.

Great post Billy. I think you nailed the effect of Brooks's piece. I would only add that I think it likely that Brooks did not intend the op-ed to be a slash piece. Brooks is oblivious enough to think he is paying Obama a compliment when in fact he is giving certain elements the grapeshot they need to fire at Obama.

While I do not think this piece was intentional, the only thing that gives me pause is that it appeared the same day as Gerson's hit job. Gerson's piece, while more direct, was similar in the ultimate theme to Brooks's. Suspicious timing, particularly since these two seem (to me) to be very like-minded in other aspects.

The race card, like the gender card, is a joker. It can't win the hand by itself. It has to be matched up with other cards.

The elegance, clarity, and truth of this statement is astounding.

Thank you, Mr. Glad.

Fast Eddie Vrdolyak was finally indicted last year for some typical sleaze by Fitzgerald no less. The local news media was surprised he ever got caught.

He's been out of city council government for a long time having turned Republican years ago. His partner in obstinance if not crime back during the Washington years was fast Eddie Burke a cop turned lawyer turned alderman. Washington, a former boxer famously told one of the Fast Eddies, I forget who, "you're about to get a fistful of something you don't want" during the "Beirut on the Lake" days as the NY Times I think dubbed them.

As usual Billy Glad has spent a lot of words talking about stuff that makes no sense. And as usual it gets recommended up the TPM pole. Sometimes this place is about as productive as watching Dan Abrams yammer on about how Obama could win the popular vote but lose the electoral college.

Well, I think what happens here is that people who just want a link to some other post or blog use the front page and rely on Josh and company to steer them.

So, when what you do is cut and paste links, you're competing with them and not likely to get recommended, even though you think of what you're doing as spreading the word. People reading the user blogs actually want to know what the readers, most of them pretty amateurish like I am, think.

It takes a while for people to decide if they're interested. The first time I tried to talk about the race card I got 3 recommendations and 3 comments.

But just to put it in perspective for you, out of thousands of people who hit the TPM site every day, only 16 of them recommended this blog.