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The -Ism Schism

In January of next year, a new breed of president will be sworn into office. The occupant of the White House will be either the oldest American ever to take over the job, the first African American (or non-white of any kind, for that matter) or the first female to do so. No matter who secures the Democratic nomination to battle John McCain this Fall, unseemly elements of both parties will use any of those distinctions to appeal to groups of voters who might be swayed by ageism, racism or sexism, and it could be the candidate who disavows those elements of his or her own party the loudest who becomes president.

The campaign so far has been marked by subtle and not so subtle appeals to voters' worst fears or stereotypes already. But the old saying - that nothing is illegal unless you get caught - is out of date; with the preponderance of blogs, cable news networks, embeded reporters and more media attention to this campaign than any in history, everything will get caught.

The danger of getting caught, and perhaps the opportunity to promote latent biases, is most prominent when Barack Obama is involved in November. In late February, after a firestorm erupted over a photo of Obama in traditional Somali garb appeared on the DrudgeReport, the Tennessee Republican Party had to issue a clarification for issuing a press release using the photo along with Obama's middle name. That same week, Cincinnati radio host Bill Cunningham repeatedly referred to the same middle name while warming up a crowd before McCain arrived. The same charges have been leveled by Democratic allies of Hillary Clinton, who have repeatedly brought up doubts about Obama's ability to be elected by discussing the same topics. Clinton herself has said that Obama is not a Muslim, as far as she knows.

Those are only the most public examples of unseemly tactics used against Obama. For more than a year, duplicitous emails have circulated among voters insinuating sinister motives for Obama's run and containing false information about his background, even leading to a question in last week's presidential debate about his not wearing a flag pin on his lapel - the rumor first got started thanks to a photo taken at Senator Tom Harkin's Iowa steak fry, which was passed around among Iowans. Neither moderator on stage bothered to point out that Hillary Clinton, standing next to Obama on stage, wasn't wearing a flag pin either, and that McCain rarely does.

Clinton herself faces less than subtle questions about her ability to be commander in chief because of her gender. Pundits latched on to the candidate tearing up at events in New Hampshire, just before that state's primary, and in Connecticut, just before Super Tuesday. The media has constantly commented on Clinton's clothing, something no male candidate faces even as a dozen or more U.S. Senators make a point of wearing seersucker suits on the same day every year.

In fact, polls have consistently showed that voters think Clinton's gender is a bigger liability than Obama's race. A Newsweek poll out last week showed that 20% of voters thought Clinton's gender and Obama's race would help their bids for the White House. 27% said Clinton's gender would hurt, while 22% said Obama's race would be harmful to his chances. Anecdotally, every reporter who covers the presidential race can point to an interview subject who referred to Clinton with a degrading word used to insult women. The most famous instance came in South Carolina, where one woman used the word to describe Clinton in a town hall meeting with McCain, in mid-November.

McCain received significant criticism for that incident, when he failed to rebuke his supporter and instead laughed at her phrasing of the question. Since that moment, McCain has been much more diligent about his response any time a surrogate or supporter attacks his Democratic rivals. He publicly decried the Tennessee Republican Party's press release on Obama; he apologized for Cunningham's comments, so enraging the conservative shock jock that Cunningham pledged to support Clinton over McCain or Obama; and he makes a point to keep his distance from any hint of a racial or gender-based conversation.

That strategy is really the only viable option McCain has. The media will pounce upon any hint of racism or sexism, as reactions to Cunningham's and others' comments have showed. Even a non-response risks being seen as a tacit endorsement of those views. Indignant repudiations of those comments are even good for McCain: By insisting on sticking to issues, McCain reinforces his image as a straight-talker, and could compete with the highly-likable Obama, and would likely trounce Clinton, in favorability ratings.

McCain is facing whispered comments about his own fitness to be president, based mostly on his age; if he wins, he will be 72 by the time he is sworn into the White House. While Clinton and Obama have avoided making references to McCain's age, DNC chairman Howard Dean has recently suggested that age will be an issue, but that the party will not use it against him. A DNC spokeswoman declined to comment for this article. It has been left, for now, to other affiliated groups to started making the point for the candidates and the party. Last week, veteran Democratic operative Steve Rosenthal launched a website, YoungerThanMcCain.com, and an attending YouTube video depicting things that have come about since McCain was born in 1936. And Americans United for Change, a left-leaning group, issued a press release last week suggesting McCain might be "out of his mind," a perhaps unintentional reference to weakened mental facilities as he ages.

But the truth the McCain campaign is going to have to face is that age will be a factor, at least to some voters. While gender is seen as hurting more than race, by a 27%-22% margin, 36% of voters said McCain's age will hurt his chances , while just 7% say it will help. And Rosenthal's website, which openly mocks the septuagenarian, has generated none of the anger that much more minor references to race or gender would elicit. While McCain has disavowed groups or individuals that have referred to Obama's race or Clinton's gender, neither Democrat has said a word about the website or its contents. To the media, ageism is an acceptable topic of conversation, it seems, while racism and sexism are grounds for shock and horror.

There is an understandable reason for that difference. Unlike one's gender or skin color, age could have a significant impact on one's ability to perform as president. McCain, virtually anyone who has covered him will agree, shows no signs of slowing down. It is no wonder that McCain has trotted his mother, well into her 90's, out on the campaign trail to prove his own vitality (The same types of questions arose in 1996, when Bob Dole was running for president and, like McCain, would have been the oldest president to take office. While Dole didn't bring his mother on the campaign trail, he is still a player in Washington today, eleven years after he would have been inaugurated). After a day of barnstorming across New Hampshire, for example, McCain was still going strong at 7:00 p.m., his tenth hour since leaving the hotel that morning, easily outlasting those in his traveling press corps, this reporter included.

In this groundbreaking year, in which one of three new precedents will be set, whisper campaigns threatening peril if any come to pass are sure to play a role. But while those underground smear attempts could hurt each candidate at which they are aimed, the benefiting opponent could find him or herself damaged in the backlash: Even if the offending group or individual is not associated with the campaign and merely tied to the party, a failure to respond fast enough could be grounds for criticism. This year, when everyone will be attacked unfairly, it could be the strength of the disavowal that proves more important than the offended candidate's outrage and response.

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