Obama hits back at 'cynical' McCain campaign
Sunday, 03 Aug 2008 14:31
Barack Obama says John McCain's recent attacks upon his campaign have been cynical, not racist
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Barack Obama has insisted that recent attacks upon him by John McCain's campaign are rooted in cynicism, not racism.
The Republican presidential hopeful's campaign team have gone on the offensive in the last week, with a video comparing the Illinois senator to celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
That was followed by a new video sent to McCain supporters and posted on YouTube which painted his Democrat rival as a
quasi-religious figure referred to as "The One".
In the new video, which includes footage of Charlton Heston's Ten Commandments, a Barack Obama for president seal is shown emerging from the Red Sea.
Speaking in Florida during a visit to Cape Canaveral, Mr Obama admitted Mr McCain's team was "very good at negative campaigning".
He explained that his background of having a black Kenyan father and a white Kansas mother, being born in Hawaii and spending his childhood in Indonesia had made him open to such attacks.
"I don't come out of central casting," Mr Obama told journalists.
"What that means is that I'm sort of unfamiliar. People are still trying to get a fix on who I am, where I come from, what my values are.
"So what I think has been an approach of the McCain campaign is to say 'he's risky.'"
But Mr Obama said Arizona senator Mr McCain was turning voters' minds away from the real political issues.
Watch Obama outline his plans for Nasa below on
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