Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Senator Barack Obama, poised to become the first black presidential nominee of a major party, rejected John McCain's claim that he's playing ``the race card'' and accused his Republican rival's campaign of cynicism rather than racism.
``In no way do I think John McCain's campaign is being racist,'' Obama said at a news conference today in Cape Canaveral, Florida. ``I think they are cynical and want to distract people from talking about the real issues.''
McCain's campaign accused Obama this week of injecting race into the campaign after the Democratic lawmaker said Republicans are trying to make voters ``scared of me'' and noted that he doesn't look like ``all those other presidents on those dollar bills.'' Obama today said he meant to imply that he's not a typical candidate and that his opponent is trying to portray him as a ``risky'' choice.
They believe ``because I don't have a conventional biography, because I don't look like I'm coming out of central casting, it's worth trying to see if they can paint me as a riskier choice,'' Obama said.
He added that his race is only part of makes him unconventional.
``I'm young, I'm new to the national scene, my name is Barack Obama, I'm African American, I was born in Hawaii, I spent time in Indonesia,'' he said. ``I'm sort of unfamiliar and people are trying to still get a fix on where I am, where I came from, my values and so forth in a way that may not be true if I seemed more familiar.''
Britney, Paris
McCain, 71, is in the Washington area all weekend and attending meetings at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. He has no public events scheduled.
The McCain camp issued a statement today claiming that Obama is the ``only cynical candidate in this election.''
Obama, who turns 47 in two days, also dismissed criticism that he's arrogant and presumes to win in November. McCain is seeking to use Obama's popularity against him by running ads comparing him with pop-culture personalities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Yesterday the McCain campaign issued a new ad on the Internet dubbed ``The One,'' which mocks Obama's appeal and asks ``Barack Obama may be the one. But is he ready to lead?''
Obama questioned whether the attempt to label him as ``arrogant'' is really working. ``It's not really clear exactly what it's based on,'' he said. He joked that if he were really ``presumptuous'' he wouldn't be campaigning in Florida.
McCain Gains
``I'm beat,'' he said. Obama hasn't taken a break from the campaign trail since returning last week from a 10-day trip to the Middle East and Europe. He said he expects a ``tight race all the way through'' to November.
Obama is campaigning in central Florida today. A poll released earlier this week showed McCain gaining on Obama in the battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Obama has 46 percent support in Florida and Ohio compared with 44 percent for McCain, amounting to a statistical dead heat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Obama leads in Pennsylvania 49 percent to 42 percent.
In the same poll a month ago, Obama held a four-point lead in Florida, a six-point lead in Ohio and a 12-point lead in Pennsylvania, according to the poll.
Urban League Audience
Obama, speaking earlier today near the Kennedy Space Center, pledged to bolster the country's space program and protect jobs in the area after the space shuttle fleet retires in 2010.
He also addressed the annual convention of the National Urban League in Orlando. The group says it's the country's largest community-based movement devoted to economically empowering black Americans.
McCain spoke to the Urban League yesterday and told a mostly black audience that Obama's ``ideas aren't always as impressive as his rhetoric.''
Obama today went after McCain on the economy and sought to link him to President George W. Bush.
McCain ``said we've made `great progress economically' under President Bush. Well I disagree,'' Obama said. ``I'm not going to assault Senator McCain's character. I'm not going to compare him to pop stars. I will, however, compare our two visions for our economic future.''
Separately today, Obama agreed to three presidential debates and one between vice presidential candidates in September and October, according to a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates from his campaign manger David Plouffe.
Plouffe said Obama named Representative Rahm Emanuel, also an Illinois Democrat, to work out details of the debates with the McCain campaign.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Titusville, Florida, at kchipman@bloomberg.net .
