RACE ABOUT TO BE IN YOUR FACE: It's an issue, angle, tactic and strategy all rolled up in one.

In a report that shows how racism is being ratcheted up in the presidential race, Richard Prince's "Journal-isms," lays out how it's being used by the press.


And of course it comes as no surprise that the Republicans are getting their licks in as well. Put it this way, the right Rev. Jeremiah Wright won't be forgotten any time soon.


The article points out an article the Washington Post by Dana Milbank writing about the declining town of McKeesport, PA:


"On the river bank, Andrew Carnegie's mills have fallen silent. The corrugated metal ones are rusting. An old brick one, from 1906, still says 'National Tube Company.' But the loss of industrial jobs here has turned downtown McKeesport into a place for repo lots and pawnshops ('Cash 'til Payday') and nonprofits caring for the elderly.


"It's enough to make anybody bitter — and some of that is directed at Obama. 'I think he just wants to be president because he's black,' said Tim Hetrick, smoking a cigarette as he waited for a bus among the crumbling structures of downtown McKeesport. A Democrat, he's thinking about voting for McCain in November."


Meanwhile "Journal-isms" quoted MSNBC's report on how the North Carolina GOP is playing the race hard, hard:


"This morning, NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann reports, the North Carolina GOP will unveil a 30-second ad that attacks Democratic gubernatorial candidates Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore for their endorsements of Obama. The ad, per the party, will reference 'controversial figures from Barack Obama's past' and raise the question of the candidates' 'judgment' in supporting him.


"The ad will be unveiled at an 11:00 am press conference. So far, the Democratic gubernatorial campaigns say that they have not yet seen it and declined to comment before knowing the content. But it's anticipated by Democratic bigs in the state that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright will play a starring role."


"Journal-isms" also noted that: "Dann later reported that the Republican National Committee said it had been in contact with the North Carolina GOP, urging it to refrain from running the "Extreme" ad. McCain did the same. However, the ad was introduced anyway."

Read the full piece here.