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Obama: McCain campaign is cynical, not racist

By Mike Glover ASSOCIATED PRESS | Saturday, August 2, 2008

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that the campaign of his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, is not racist but is cynical in trying to divert voter attention from the real issues of the presidential campaign.

Mr. Obama met with reporters for the first time since the McCain campaign claimed that the Illinois Democrat had "played the race card" by warning that Mr. McCain would try to scare voters about how Mr. Obama looks unlike "all those other presidents on the dollar bills" — all of whom are white men.

In the ensuing debate, a McCain spokesman suggested that the Arizona Republican was being painted as a racist. That's an attempt to shift the campaign's focus, Mr. Obama argued Saturday.

"In no way do I think that John McCain's campaign was being racist," Mr. Obama said. "I think they're cynical, and I think they want to distract people from talking about the real issues."

He added of the Republicans' approach: "They're very good at negative campaigning. They're not so good at governing."

Reporters questioned Mr. Obama about the issue of race as he campaigned for a second day in Florida, where offshore oil drilling was emerging as a top issue. The Illinois senator said he was willing to compromise his stand against further drilling along the U.S. coastline if other proposals were part of a plan for energy independence.

"What I'm interested in, ultimately, is going to be governing," he said. "What that means is we're going to have to try to get things done."

A McCain campaign spokesman, Tucker Bounds, said in a statement Saturday: "We're glad the Obama campaign retracted Barack Obama's accusation because it was absolutely false, and we're moving on. The only 'cynical' candidate in this election is Barack Obama for his continued opposition to John McCain's comprehensive energy plan that includes additional oil drilling, gas tax relief and affordable nuclear energy."

The presidential contest warmed over the past week with charges between the two sides escalating. Mr. McCain contended that Mr. Obama had injected race into the debate with his warning and his reference to presidents on U.S. currency.

At his news conference Saturday, Mr. Obama pointed the finger back at Mr. McCain.