The New York Times quotes radio talk show host Warren Ballentine smearing John McCain as a racist who privately complains about having to speak to "Negroes":
Warren Ballentine, one of black talk radio’s new stars, was on a tear against Senator John McCain as he broadcast from the Greenbriar Mall here last week, blithely dismissing Mr. McCain’s kind words about Senator Barack Obama at the recent N.A.A.C.P. national convention.
“He came out talking about how good of a race Barack Obama was running, and how proud he was of Barack,” Mr. Ballentine said. “You know he went back home and said, ‘I can’t believe I spoke in front of all those Negroes today!’ ”
“He was pandering to the crowd, talking about how he felt when Martin Luther King Jr. died,” Mr. Ballentine went on. “However, he didn’t vote for the holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.”
And yes, it's only July.
I'm pretty sure this is more a smear implying McCain is an old fogey, still stuck in the 50s, not that he's a straight-up racist. The word negro is more archaic than racist (the United Negro College Fund is not a racist organization...)
Posted by: Dave | July 28, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Dave, I think it's both. Yes, by putting the word "negro" in McCain's mouth, Ballentine made him sound like an old fogey. However, the words, "I can't believe I spoke in front of all those Negroes," made him sound like a racist.
It may be worth pointing out that Of course, Ballentine's accusation was based on nothing at all. Ballentine simply made up the words he put in McCain's mouth. In this respect, Ballentine behaved worse than most partisans on either side.
Posted by: David | July 29, 2008 at 03:55 PM
You could look at his comments as saying McCain was being hypocritical (as opposed to being a racist).
In that regard Ballentine hadn't behaved "worse than most partisans on either side" (although maybe just as bad as some).
That's not to say I agree with Ballentine - but we see the hypocritical charge often used (even here, when commentators want to paint someone as being self-serving).
I think you made that type of argument yourself just a while back, with respect to Obama and his position on Iraq (I say that not to criticize you, just to provide an example).
Posted by: Howard Craft | July 29, 2008 at 05:09 PM
It's the creation of a damaging quote out of whole cloth that I considered worse than other partisans. Maureen Dowd came close once by omitting enough words from a Bush quote so as to change it from reasonable to unreasonable. But, she doesn't do that any more as far as I know.
Posted by: David | July 29, 2008 at 06:50 PM
Let me amend that last sentence. She doesn't intentionally
create false quotes any more.
Posted by: David | July 29, 2008 at 07:08 PM
Perhaps. I'm not trying to defend him, I'm just saying it's not a unique occurrence.
He admitted he was projecting - he said "you know he went home and said..." but not "he went home and said..."
That type of statement is made all the time. Rush does it every day, I believe.
Posted by: Howard Craft | July 29, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Howard Craft - I guess the phrase "You know..." can be interpreted as equivalent to, "I don't know what McCain said, but I imagine he said something like..." Nevertheless, I think many listeners would come away thinking that McCain had actually said those words. A listener might not catch every word.
Also, there's no evidence at all that McCain ever said anything like that quote.
Posted by: David | July 29, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Listen to the truth in broadcasting, Warren Ballentine. Log on to www.thetruthfighters.com
Posted by: sherrie | August 14, 2008 at 12:26 PM