Politics | Obama 2008 Obama Treads Lightly on Issue of Race Democrats try to avoid race war with McCain By Kevin Spak Posted Aug 2, 2008 2:13 PM CDT Copied Barack Obama asks hecklers to ask questions when he is finished with his speech, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, during a town hall meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Race has once again crept into the presidential race this week, and Barack Obama did his best to ignore it, the New York Times reports. John McCain’s campaign accused Obama of “playing the race card…from the bottom of the deck” when the Dem said McCain might attack him because he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” But Obama resisted retaliating, trying to prevent a racial firefight. “Ideally, you want to punch back right to the solar plexus,” said one Democratic strategist. “But when race gets injected…it is really fraught with peril.” But race is sure to follow Obama. Yesterday, self-styled black revolutionaries protested at a rally, accusing Obama of neglecting the black community. “I may not have spoken out the way you want me to,” Obama responded, but “I have spoken out…and spoken out forcefully.” Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Supreme Court ruling is a big blow to Planned Parenthood. Report an error