His "race" card will be interpreted by many as the "victim" card, which is a display of weakness.

In the first statement, he's indicating that he thinks that American voters are smart enough to base their votes on issues more substantial than just his race colour, but that he also thinks that the Republicans think they can use his race as one aspect of a portrayal of Obama as something to be feared.

Essentially, if you take both statements together, he basically thinks that even though the Republicans are quite likely to play the race card (either overtly or subtly,) he believes the voters are smart enough not to fall for it.

So, there's no contradiction, flip-floppiness or weakness in the two statements, because in one looks at American voters, the other at the Republican party (and, of course, it's allies.)