Please cite me to where the Obama campaign has "pushed back" against this Kerrey thing in any way. All I have seen is a bunch of bloggers complaining.
but I was responding to the statement that this somehow shows that there are real problems with Obama's background. The real issue is that smear campaigns (again, real or perceived) must be responded to. It does not show thin-skinned vulnerabilities to respond to these things.
You can and should respond to a smear by pointing out the facts, each and every time.
Whether you play the race card is a much more delicate issue. Obama is a smart politician and he surely knows that you can't just go around accusing anybody and everybody of engaging in racist dog-whistle politics like they do on the blogs.
None of this is particularly fair, but it's how the country is. The last thing Obama can afford to do is get a reputation for touchiness concerning his background.
I'm not sure just "pointing out the facts" always works though. I keep going back to the 2004 Swiftboating. It wasn't enough for Kerry to say that his record stood for itself. He really should have thrown the whole thing into George Bush's lap and said "you, someone who couldn't even make it to the national guard physical, are going to question my record which earned me three purple hearts and the Navy's silver star?" Instead, Kerry allowed Bush to have a double victory by first having the smear out there and second by acting as the voice of reason saying that the third-party attacks should be less vicious.
You are correct that it is a fine line between responding and appearing to have "thin skin". But I think people respond to emotion and retort better than politicians give them credit for.
Everything depends upon the individual facts and circumstances.
When Fox News first ran with the madrassa smear earlier this year, Obama hit back very hard, and I think everyone would agree he was entitled to.
Is he similarly entitled to hit back hard against Bob Kerrey's comments? I guess that's a matter of judgment. But there's most definitely a limited number of times you can play the race card before people will start to say "my God, this guy thinks everything is racist."
