Obama Tells NPR McCain Camp Has 'Amplified' Race Controversy

NPR's Michele Norris interviewed Barack Obama for this afternoon's All Things Considered. The bulk of the conversation was about Obama's energy plan, but Michele also raised the recent back-and-forth between the two campaigns over charges of race-baiting. Obama's response, in part:

[I]n no ways do I think that the McCain campaign has targeted race issues, although I will say that the way that they've amplified this, you know, has been troublesome. And the eagerness with which they've done it indicates they think they can exploit this politically, but, in fact, what I have said, and there's no doubt about this, they've said it themselves, is that they want to make me appear risky to the American people.

And the fact that I am not a typical presidential candidate in that sense, you know, reinforces that sense of risk.

The full Q&A on the race debate is after the jump.

-- Evie Stone

MS. NORRIS: And before I let you go, Senator, I just want to ask you about this sparring that's been going on back and forth between the two campaigns. Yesterday, the John McCain campaign accused you of playing the race card. This morning, one of your top strategists, David Axelrod, acknowledged that you were referring to race among other things when you talked about how you present a different image than the faces that we now see on our currency, on our $1 bills and on our $5 bills.

I just want to be clear about what you were trying to say in that comment. How has the GOP or the McCain campaign been using scare tactics, particularly when it comes to race?

SEN. OBAMA: Now, look, Michele, this notion that somehow I was playing the race card is ridiculous. What I said in front of a 98-percent conservative, rural, white audience in Missouri is nothing that I haven't said before, which is, I don't come out of central casting when it comes to what presidential candidates typically look like. And it doesn't just have to do with race. It has to do with my name, it has to do with my biography and my background. It has to do with our message of change.

And so in no ways do I think that the McCain campaign has targeted race issues, although I will say that the way that they've amplified this, you know, has been troublesome. And the eagerness with which they've done it indicates they think they can exploit this politically, but, in fact, what I have said, and there's no doubt about this, they've said it themselves, is that they want to make me appear risky to the American people.

And the fact that I am not a typical presidential candidate in that sense, you know, reinforces that sense of risk. And I don't think that there's any doubt that people are still trying to figure out what's this young guy doing here running for president. And our job is to make sure that they understand that the changes we're promoting are changes that have to be made, that if we don't make them, in fact, that's the riskier course, continuing to do the same things that we're doing currently that have gotten us into such a bad situation economically and in our foreign policy.

MS. NORRIS: You know, I think I heard you say that you think that they might be trying to exploit this because of the speed with which they reacted to your statements. Because race is such a tricky thing -- you yourself acknowledged that in your speech in Philadelphia -- to the extent that they do try to exploit this, how do you inoculate that? How do you as a candidate in a historical position, given that some Americans may feel some discomfort about crossing that historical threshold, how do you deal with that?

SEN. OBAMA: You know, I have great confidence in the American people. I mean, if you look at the campaign that John McCain has run over the last month, it's been Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, this latest episode just recently, the false accusation that I refused to visit troops because the cameras weren't with me, suggesting that I would rather lose a war so I could win a political campaign. You know, there have been a -- just a sustained caricature of me and character attacks against me.

You know, that, I think, is an indication that they don't have many good ideas in terms of actually solving problems for the American people. And my goal is to keep talking about the issues that matter. How do we lower gas prices? How do we change our tax code to provide some relief? How do we make sure that ordinary Americans are having jobs that pay a living wage? I have a lot of confidence that that kind of serious debate about the issues is what the American people are looking for right now.

MS. NORRIS: This may be tricky, but to the extent that race is also an issue that matters, how do you discuss that with the --

SEN. OBAMA: Michele, I've got to tell you, you've gone way over time. Linda is over here; Gibbs is over here. They are all -- I was trying to cut you some slack --

MS. NORRIS: Oh, I know they all want to fuss at me, but --

SEN. OBAMA: -- but you just kept on going. So I had to finally cut you off.

MS. NORRIS: That's okay. I know we've got to let you go. Senator Obama, thank you very much for your time.

SEN. OBAMA: Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

4:00 PM ET | 08- 1-2008 | permalink

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