Ralph's Race Card

And it worked. What Nader wants is media oxygen, so he appeals to the journalistic hunger for controversy, especially racial controversy.

At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey is, well, disgusted:

"Maybe Barack Obama was onto something when he warned about race-based attacks in the upcoming general election. However, the first such attack hasn't come from Obama's right, but from his left. . .

" 'Talk white'? Do people still think this way? Apparently Nader does, and the arrogance here is simply stunning. On what basis does Ralph Nader think that he qualifies to be the arbiter of black authenticity?

"Nader doesn't even bother to go for subtlety or code words here. He doesn't actually utter the words 'Uncle Tom' in this outburst, but the meaning is plain. Nader accuses Obama of selling out the poor and his own constituency in order to ingratiate himself with the 'white power structure'.

"I'm not here to defend Obama, but this attack is simply despicable. It demands, as the Left often does, that minorities subjugate their own opinion for groupthink, and that they offer no deviation from the Leftist orthodoxy, lest one give up their own ethnic identity and be called a traitor merely for having their own opinions. Whether Obama actually does this or not is not as relevant as the exposure of the Left's attitudes on racial identity and political individuality."

Instapundit: "I always thought of Ralph Nader as extra-white myself. So I guess he should know?"

Protein Wisdom: "Nader's attacks were every bit as incendiary as -- and more defective than -- the rear end of a 1975 Ford Pinto."

James Joyner weighs in at Outside the Beltway, questioning Nader's premise:

"It's not at all clear why black candidates have a particular obligation to talk about 'black issues.' Indeed, as a major party nominee, it's his job to forge a broad consensus on issues that appeal to Americans as a whole. Running as 'the black candidate' and focusing mostly on the issues Nader wants him to would ensure he'd lose."

Nor is Ralph setting the trail on fire, even in liberal Cambridge, says this Washington Post report, published the same day as the Rocky Mountain News interview:

"Nader is too professorial to really rouse his audience. When he starts hammering 'the bloated, wasteful and corrupt military budget,' a young woman lays her head on a friend's shoulder and closes her eyes, as if to nap. When Nader discusses the need for single-payer health insurance, an older woman dozes."