Politics | Barack Obama If Obama Were White, He'd Be Hit Twice as Hard Democrat is protected by his race, not vulnerable because of it By Gabriel Winant Posted Oct 14, 2008 9:14 AM CDT Copied Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Seagate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) John McCain isn’t stoking racism against Barack Obama. If anything, writes Jonah Goldberg in the LA Times, McCain is going easy on the Democrat for fear of appearing racist. When the GOP paints Obama as “different” or Sarah Palin says he doesn’t see America “the way you and I see America,” they’re using the same strategies they have for years—against white candidates. Obama has been asking for all the hits he’s taken. He “touts his global appeal,” but calling him cosmopolitan is off-limits? By this unfair standard, the GOP campaigns against white guys Michael Dukakis and Al Gore were Klan rallies. "If anything," Goldberg writes, "by not attacking Obama's ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other politically unsavory nonwhite associates, McCain is self-censoring for fear of seeming racist." Read These Next A former NFL Pro Bowler has died at age 36. The massive AWS failure exposed a big problem with the internet. A man ended up dead after trying to steal from Spirit Halloween. Marco Rubio struck a controversial deal with El Salvador. Report an error