Her comments are not directly racist. Obviously, her intended logic is that Obama is inherently inferior as a candidate, but is doing well only because there is a popular advantage to a superficiality he possesses: his race. She doesn't say he is inherently inferior as a candidate BECAUSE of his race.

However...she is DISALLOWING him the "good fortune" of his superficial characteristic somehow amplifying the effectiveness of his candidacy. That IS racist: she's attempting to use his race against him.

An old time racist declares a person bad because of their race. A modern one uses their race in a more subtle way to dismiss them.

She is not. Obama's camp will face a back fire.

Bingo, Steve. Great point. What she's doing is the equivalent of casting aspersions on the qualities of a minority at an Ivy League school, say. They might be smart, but ultimately the reason they got there is because of political correctness, so the thinking goes. It's a hurtful, demeaning and ultimately racist thing to say.

I agree, Dirk. The "only an affirmative action person" is often used to disparage people unfairly; and it's another, similar version to what Ferraro did.

I like the totally non-racist version of this from (if I remember correctly) Catcher in the Rye. Holden relates how one friend criticized a fantastic basketball player by saying he had the "right build" for basketball; Holden making the point that the commentor was trying to trivialize the guy's basketball abilities--no doubt out of envy.

Ferraro is up to the same trick, and a bit more, because--and this is unavoidable--she focuses on his race from a negative perspective.