A tale of two Stereotypes

As the current election campaign has drawn on, the economy has slowly displaced all other issues in contention. However, a sizeable amount of swing voters are going to make their decisions based on the character of the candidates, rather than any major policy differences. In this respect, it is interesting to look at how the candidates have portrayed their respective backgrounds.

Barack Obama has, in one sense, had a harder time of it. After all, he cannot go on too much about race without being accused of playing the race card, which is regarded as a dangerous move, to put it mildly. A number of African-American candidates, notably Jesse Jackson in 1988, have overplayed the race card, and suffered in his campaign, which became increasingly polarised along racial lines.

Obama also has another advantage, in that the African-American vote is firmly behind him already. As a result, he is attempting to portray himself as a post-racial candidate, who was born too late to take part in the culture wars of the 1960s, or to have been a major civil-rights figure. While he has had a number of trip-ups, most notably the debacle over Reverend Jeremiah Wright, he is currently managing the difficult act of keeping African-Americans fired up about his candidacy, while reassuring non-blacks that he is a safe bet as well.

John McCain's background is more firmly rooted in the polarisation of American politics that began in the 1960s. His character, as presented to the media, is firmly rooted in his service in Vietnam, and the five years he spent as a POW there. Unlike Obama, who is secure in his voter base and is now trying to court independents and moderate Republicans, McCain has still not fully stifled doubts among the evangelical right about his candidacy. While the selection of Sarah Palin undoubtedly helped, McCain is still trying to shore up his position, and reminding them that he served in Vietnam, and has the scars to prove it, is one way of trying to encourage a high turnout.

Unfortunately, this places John McCain firmly on one side of the partisan divide. The Vietnam War scarred a generation of Americans. While there are undoubtedly many people who regard McCain as a hero and patriot as a result of his service, there are also a large number who regard Vietnam as something best forgotten, or as a stain on American history in which McCain played a brutal part, flying bombing missions agains North Vietnamese cities.

As a result, both candidates have taken differing approaches to the things that defined them. On the one hand, Barack Obama may end up falling victim to racial polarisation anyway. On the other, John McCain would do well to remember that, alongside that of the angry black man, the angry Vietnam vet is a dangerous stereotype to conform to.