Political consultant David Gergen (advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton) on ABC this morning, comes right out and says it:
“I think the McCain campaign has been scrupulous about not directly saying it, but it’s the subtext of this campaign. Everybody knows that. There are certain kinds of signals. As a native of the south, I can tell you, when you see this Charlton Heston ad, ‘The One,’ that’s code for, ‘he’s uppity, he ought to stay in his place.’ Everybody gets that who is from a southern background. We all understand that.”
(Video available on linked page)
…I have to tell you though, what bugs me most about this new McCain ad (“The One”, which mockingly places Obama in a Messianic role) isn’t the race issue (which was there in previous ads). No, this one is a direct dog-whistle to the Evangelical nutjobs — and places Obama as the fucking AntiChrist. Watch and decide for yourself.
To a thinking, rational human being — it’s obviously mocking Obama on the continued “presumptuous/arrogant/celebrity” motif. But the Evangelicals aren’t rational, or thinking. To them, this plays to their fears, already circulating via email, that “Biblical Prophecy” says Obama might be the AntiChrist. Do we really want to throw a match onto that particular tinder? All it takes is one unhinged Jesus-freak, convinced that he is doing God’s work…..