The New Kind of Politics. . .

. . .appears to be coming solely from the McCain campaign, as this post at The Politico makes abundantly clear. While McCain decries the use of Jeremiah Wright in a North Carolina gubernatorial campaign ad as being of a tone which his campaign is seeking to avoid, Barack Obama's campaign manager is tarring McCain as the product of racist support. That's pretty low-road stuff.

Obama needs to repudiate this in strong terms, and he needs to do it now. Having his campaign manager running around defaming his opponent by implying that he courts racist sentiment to bolster his support further undermines the entire rationale of his candidacy. If you're running as a candidate who transcends racial barriers, you can't be taken seriously if your minions are engaging in fear mongering and racially divisive rhetoric at the expense of your opponents.

Of course, Obama will in all likelihood issue a terse statement that says, in effect, "I don't think John McCain is in the Klan, but I've never seen any proof that he isn't."