My contention: the Barack Obama-as-narcissist theme, which has been all over the press of late, is stale, logically shaky--and comes with a strong racial subtext.
Something to consider, especially since John McCain is now accusing Obama of playing the race card.
Yesterday in this space, I praised the Washington Post's story on misinformation circulating about Barack Obama in Findlay, Ohio. But the Findlay Courier didn't like the story one bit. Here, via Romenesko, is the heart of the paper's editorial on the subject:
[Reporter Eli] Saslow crafted a picture of credulous, rumor-swallowing bigots, even though several of his interviewees said they just weren't sure what to believe.
Maybe you thought Barack Obama's fake presidential seal was just a stupid gaffe, kind of like Mitt Romney's podium screw-up back in 2006. But no! It's much, much more than that. Mickey Kaus, take it away:
[T]he faux seal was a disaster not just for the reason I gave (that it suggested Obama is "stuck up"). It also carried this counterproductive connotation: that there is a separate Obama Nation, grown up in opposition to Bush's nation.