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SMILING OBAMA….Fred Davis III, John McCain’s advertising guy, tells Time’s Michael Scherer that he felt handcuffed in several ways during the campaign:

Davis says that concern about race played a major role in the entire aesthetic of McCain’s ads. The photographs of Obama that the ads used, for instance, which often showed Obama elongated and smiling, were carefully selected, he recalls. “We chose them with only one thing in mind, and that is to not make them bad pictures because bad pictures would be seen as racist,” Davis says.

I’m disappointed to hear this. I had assumed all along that his use of a smiling Barack Obama was a masterstroke. Instead of the tired old schtick of using awkward or glowering photos in grainy black-and-white, he was instead trying to portray Obama as slick and shallow, a beaming tent preacher trying to sell you a bill of goods. Not only did it play up the stereotype they were trying to sell, but it made them impervious to criticism. How can you complain that your opponents are making you look too good, after all?

But no. That wasn’t it at all. They were just trying to avoid charges of racism. How banal.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. The deadline’s almost here. Please help us reach our $150k membership goal by May 31.

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