And you seem to me to be under the illusion that all cultures are equally valid.

That assumes a racism on the part of the voter that isn’t there, in the direction you’re claiming.

Don't forget that according to Bit the only real racism or sexism left to be concerned about in America is directed against whites and men, particularly white men, and the real religious bigotry is directed at Christians. Oh, the difficulties of being a white Christian man in modern America. I feel for you Bit.

McCain isn’t doing anything wrong, but it’s a structural advantage he has that even a Republican woman/black guy could not have.

I don't buy that for a moment.
That assumes a racism on the part of the voter that isn't there, in the direction you're claiming.

“[McCain] seems to be the first candidate in recent memory to make family history highly relevant to his campaign.”

Maybe. I recall Jim Webb had always made a very big deal out of his family heritage, his ethnic background and the military experience of his family going back many generations. Oh, and he gave a speech praising the misunderstood confederate soldiers, too.

Can you even begin to imagine what a storm that would evoke if a Republican did it?

He has roots in Mississippi.

everyone agrees that being an old man is to his disadvantage

I don't. Old people vote.

and playing up the military angle didn’t do squat for Bob Dole, John Kerry, or (in his re-election bid anyway) George H.W. Bush.

I answer that here.

However, I also don't think that MY was claiming that John McCain was doing anything wrong. I think what he was pointing out was that, inevitably, John McCain emphasizing his heritage gains a boost from the fact that our Founding Heroes were all white males. He's going to a place in tradition that a woman and a black guy can't go.

McCain isn't doing anything wrong, but it's a structural advantage he has that even a Republican woman/black guy could not have.

I do believe another thing, that the record of subrosa racism in Republican's campaigns are der rigor. McCain, himself, was subject to this by Rove in 2000 (Black Baby out of wedlock rumors in SC, for $10,000 Alex). Whether he will succumb to the same temptation or merely let the 500 million dollars that Ari and his buds are going to dump into the general election do it for him remains to be seen. To deny that it isn't going to happen, as many imply, is simply ridiculous.

You're right, though. No one likes a victim and that's been one of the rather amazing things constant in the whole subject of racism. If you complain about it, you're a whiny victim. If you let it go, then you get run over with a bulldozer.

Going to be an interesting campaign.

This is a group both McCain and Obama have to appeal to.

If McCain thinks running on his military record is what will do it, I am not seeing the racist motivation. If this group is racist, then anything he does can be painted as racist.

What about the things Obama does to appeal to this group?

I do believe one thing though. If the democrats run around crying racist at every turn, a good portion of the electorate is going to be turned off-and either they will vote for McCain or somebody else, because I don't think the US is ready for a victim as president.

I didn't claim he was "pretending". McCain Identifies Himself as a Baptist.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has long identified himself as an Episcopalian, said this weekend that he is a Baptist and has been for years.

And he does this in Hilton Head, SC. For a southern audience.

One doesn't have to draw the lines between these dots as they draw on their own.

As I understand it, he's been attending a Baptist church more-or-less since marrying his Baptist wife. He hasn't formally converted, but he's not "pretending" to be a Baptist the same way that he would have to pretend to be a southerner.

Personally, the way I look at Matt’s statement is that it’s performance art. It’s doing it in precisely the same way that McCain would be doing if he were doing it. Kind of an object lesson in how’s it’s done, so to speak.

So, that's not what Obama is doing?

Except that McCain isn’t a Southerner

Well, until recently he wasn't Baptist, either. That didn't stop him from claiming so when it was politically convenient for him. So it's hardly no surprise that he'd suddenly - I don't know - start doing southern style BBQ's and flying the Confederate flag for all I know. After all, he's now the evangelical's BFF - and a Baptist!

Yes.

What I’ll say on behalf of Matt’s strategy...

And you'd be perfectly correct in that.

Personally, the way I look at Matt's statement is that it's performance art. It's doing it in precisely the same way that McCain would be doing if he were doing it. Kind of an object lesson in how's it's done, so to speak.