by Damozel | So, as we all knew would happen, the GOP---in Tennessee this time---seems unable to resist using Obama's middle name as a scare tactic to hot up its dumber members against Obama. In what I regard as a welcome sign of decency and sanity, the Republican National
Committee has warned the Tennessee GOP that they do not approve of or
support the use of Obama's name---Barack Hussein Obama---in such
releases. The RNC warned the Tennessee GOP that "they will be
denounced by the national
committee if they use the Democrat's middle name again, said a GOP
official close to the RNC." (The Politico) Even Karl Rove recognizes that it's probably not a wise move.
"The context was, you're not going to stimatize this guy. You shouldn't underestimate him," one of the executive directors said. Rove said that the use of "Barack Hussein Obama" would perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted and would hurt the party.
Rove also said that Republicans should refer to Hillary Clinton as "Sen. Clinton," rather than "Hillary."
Right wing figures are set to ignore Rove's advice. Rush Limbaugh used Obama's middle name more than a year ago, and Ann Coulter regularly uses the middle name, once calling him "President Hussein." So does Michael Savage, who once asked whether Obama was a "so-called friendly Muslim" or one more "radical." (Marc Ambinder)
It's not that we don't all know what the 'H.' stands for; it's that the RNC is taking a stand against the use of his name to suggest in context that he is a Muslim (he is not) and therefore 'suspect' (to right-wingers of very little brain). In other words, they do not plan to adopt as an official tactic the tactics of certain aforementioned wingnuts and hardliners. Very smart.
That is a welcome change and seems attributable largely to the basic decency---or at the very least, the basic common sense---of the McCain campaign.
Not that the Tennessee GOP sees it that way.
Monday, Tennessee GOP spokesman Bill Hobbs penned a press release attacking Obama on Israel, using his Muslim-sounding middle name in the process.
"The Tennessee Republican Party today joins a growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States," Hobbs wrote.
The Tennessee GOP chairwoman, Robin Smith, stood by Hobbs yesterday, saying that they "have a duty to inform the Republican base...." (The Politico)
Of...what exactly? That Obama has a Muslim-sounding middle name?
Does the Republican base really not know this, even in Tennessee? (Tennessee: "HEY.")
Okay, sorry. I'm from the Carolinas---both of them--- so I don't have any business ripping on Tennessee. But anyway, now that Republican voters in Tennessee do know, will the Tennessee GOP shut up about it? It's not as if he is Muslim (not that this should matter, since most Muslims aren't terrorists any more than most Tennesseans, including the Republican base, are panicky, bigoted rednecks...except we know that it would matter . Because...well, you work it out.
So will the Tennessee GOP shut up about it?
Not necessarily. When the RNC called them out, ."Tennessee GOP chairwoman" Robin Smith responded that they of the Tennessee GOP "don't work for John McCain." (The Politico)
Gah, poor John McCain. After everything he's done to placate 'the base', he's going to have uphill work to keep them from resorting to the tactics they know best.
McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker noted that her candidate condemned the press release and apologized to Obama. It was the second time he had to do so in as many days.
"There will be times in this campaign where people do and say stupid things," Hazelbaker said. "It's a fact and it's beyond our control.""We will continue to condemn [such comments] in the strongest language possible and reitterate our commitment to running a positive campaign based on the issues." (The Politico)
Well, maybe we shouldn't be too hard on the Tennessee GOP. After all, the GOP in general hasn't had any recent experience with positive campaigns based on the issues. Perhaps they've forgotten how.
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I heard an interview on NPR yesterday with the guy who has made the speech introducing McCain where he said "Barack Hussen Obama" multiple times. His defense was one of the greatest insults to my intelligence that I have ever heard from an interviewee. He was trying to claim that he meant nothing at all by it, that it was just the innocent use of his middle name, and he tried to draw a link to the use of middle names in presidents past. Robert Siegel pointed out that on his radio show, he had called him "Barack Hussein Muhammad Obama". He claimed that he had read that on a website and it was just an honest mistake. It was an incredible display of bullshiting.
If Obama wins the nomination, then we have not seen the last of this, not by a long shot.
Posted by: Adam | February 28, 2008 at 11:34 AM