Obama Waffles

"Obama Waffles" were sold at the Value Voters Summit in Washington, DC. The image of Obama on the box is being described in news reports as a "racial stereotype." The question I have is, what's the difference between a "racial stereotype" and a caricature? As you can tell by the photo of Obama, the cartoon on the box is a pretty good caricature, much like what you'd see in a political cartoon.
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The problem is not that the Left immedately yells "racism" at any perceivied criticism of Obama. That's expected. What is bothersome is that the Associated Press story characterized the image as a "racial stereotype" rather than a caricature, and all the media are repeating the AP accusation.
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Let's compare the Obama pictures with these images with John McCain:


















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Is the Obama caricature any more stereotypical than that of McCain?
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The accusation of racism is one that everyone is sensitive to, and the choosing of a black candidate by Democrats gives them that charge whenever they want to use it. The Forum organizers apologized, dropped the waffle mix sales, etc., out of fear of being smeared as racists.
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It seems to me that the only way that any group can claim equality with another is when they can accept criticism, even ridicule, without relying on the "victimhood" argument. By being ridiculed with a caricature, clearly Obama in the above image is being treated as an equal to McCain or any other politician. To try to protect him from such ridicule by claiming racism is demeaning to anyone, regardless of race.
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The media have successfully labeled the image as racist, but that doesn't mean we must allow such a charge to stand. There are too many examples of real racism in the world which need to be corrected for a false charge such as this to attract any attention at all.