AWFUL

Posted at 7:41 p.m. ET

The attempt to paint John McCain as a racist has already begun. This is absolutely awful:

LAS VEGAS—A Nevada congresswoman and surrogate for Barack Obama accused John McCain's campaign on Thursday of using veiled language to paint the Democratic presidential candidate as an "uppity black man."

On a conference call with reporters, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley of Las Vegas said the Republican's attempts to portray his rival as out of touch with average Americans carried racial undertones.

"When I hear the word 'elitist' linked with Barack Obama, to me, that is a code word for 'uppity,'" Berkley said on a call organized by the Obama campaign to announce a new television ad. "I find it extremely offensive, and John McCain should know better. And until this election, he handled himself in a far more enlightened way. ... They're not using the word 'elitist' by accident, that's a code word for 'uppity black man.'"

And what does the Obama campaign say about this?

Berkley's analysis was not echoed by Obama's campaign.

"That is not a characterization the campaign agrees with," said Obama spokeswoman Kirsten Searer. "That is our only comment."

How about 1) dropping Berkley as a surrogate, 2) publicly apologizing to John McCain, and 3) putting out a public directive to all Obama soldiers to desist from language like that. 

The Obama campaign's little slap on the wrist was completely inadequate.  Expect to hear more ugly comments, and some pro forma "we don't agree" maneuvers from the Obama side.

August 21, 2008.