It’s unexpected, but even Karl Rove is discouraging Republican attack dogs from throwing around Barack Obama’s middle name.
No less an authority figure than Karl Rove has warned Republican operatives from demagoguing Barack Obama’s middle name.
At a closed door meeting of GOP state executive directors in late January, Rove said the safest way to refer to Obama would be to use his honorific, “Sen. Obama.”
“The context was, you’re not going to stigmatize 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’s remarks come just one day after John McCain said he believes use of “Hussein” is inappropriate.
It’s unlikely the party’s far-right base is going to listen to either of them. Indeed, the Republican Party of Tennessee already seems anxious to reinforce the notion that Republicans are bigoted and don’t care whether it hurts the party or not.
Filed Under: Barack Obama, Election 08, Racism/Bigotry, Republican Party
No Trackbacks To “Rove discourages ‘Hussein’ talk“
1 “hussein” st
Why the Repugs would listen to Rove now, after he’s almost single-handedly responsible for elevating to power the man who destroyed their political prospects, is beyond me. They’ll more likely backlash against him, thereby ensuing that they’re continued to be perceived as what they are: racist, imperialistic pigs.
Demagoguery sounds like someone who’s into buggering demons.
He said that to protect Republicans, not out of respect for Obama.
they don’t mind being bigoted, they just don’t want to be seen as bigoted.
Yeah, after they’ve been making hay from it for months and now everyone knows about it in a negative light, the emphasis will be on doing the “kind” thing and overlooking Barack Hussein Obama’s Islamofascist roots. After all, they aren’t his FAULT.
Yeah, that’s nice, but it won’t prevent me from still referring to Rove as a big, fat, lying, treasonous pig.
sassafra @ 5:
Totally true. Totally self-serving.
Ellie @ 6:
What the fuck is ‘Islamofascism’, anyway? So far as I am aware, no Islamic sect believes that the proper form of government is a corporatist merger of business and state interests.
.
America is rife with antisemitism…
A good and enlightened read…
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes
http://www.juancole.com/2008/0.....adley.html
.
Sorry, boys.
You enjoyed letting the cats out to play and now you wish they were back in the bag? Watching the development of a strong association between bigotry/hatred and the republican party will be this summer’s blockbuster!
Insight into the psychopathic personality… http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=936
Heck, the Freepers call him, “Barry Hussein.” They don’t even bother with a last name. They don’t wanna confuse the issue.
Blue Lensman @ 11:
This is why Barack is the perfect candidate. They can’t attack him in their usual ways because Americans won’t stand for it. For some reason if they attack Hillary people aren’t repulsed by it the same way. Bigotry is not something they want to be overtly exposed as being.
Juan Cole at http://www.juancole.com describes exactly what the name “Hussein” means. The Republicans could learn a lot by reading that post.
Blue Lensman @ 11:
No kidding… the Republican party is bigoted and we’ve all been able to see it for a very long time. Who does Rove think he’s fooling?
Karla Rove is Jeff Gannon’s Baby Batter Bank.
Sorry Nicole, but I don’t think this piece of shit (sorry for the language) should be discussed anywhere unless it is discussing his jail sentence.
This is actually Rove’s way to remind people of the name while still keeping his hands pristinely clean. This is why Rove has enjoyed the political success that he has. Obama should leak a story about how he had a closed door meeting in which he instructed his staff to not respond to Rove’s bait and how Rove is not to be referred to as a pervert and a sociopath.
Wasn’t it the PM of Canada that said something along the lines of “We certainly do not think Bush is a moron.” That’s as effective as you get.
He’s hoping it will discourage people from calling him Karl “Baby Huey” Rove.
It’s no accident that Fox News recently hired Rove as a “contributor”.
In this important election, I’m thinking that “the architect” is probably having a major role in directing the path of election coverage at the “Fair and Balanced” network.
Rove’s plan is working.
He gets credit for being a human being while spreading the story even here on C&L.
This is a good racist bad racist technique.
The bad racist pukes bile into the public sphere and the good racist points at the bile and yells. “Look at this bile. Isn’t it disgusting?”
Then we all talk about the bile.
I think its ridiculous that people even ALLOW this to be an issue. The man has a middle name that is different than we are used to; which also happens to be the same name of a man who was happened to be despicable. But then again, Hussein happens to be the 3rd most popular name in Pakistan (the 6th most populous country in the world).
Shame on everyone who thinks this is an issue. A name is a name is a name. It has no bearing on the type of person they are.
Moving on…
What they should do is point out the lies from the Dem candidates, but to do this would expose the Repubs own lies. Case? Campaign rhetoric (lies) by both Hillary and Obama on reopening NAFTA or ditching it altogether. Complete lies. They have NO intention of doing that, and have already contacted Canada’s US ambASSador to point out it is just “campaigning”…….in other words………LIES.
“Appearing bigoted” has been a cornerstone of the Republican strategy for the last 27 years.
Paul Krugman: Republicans and Race
Duke.S @ 22:
My mother would just hand me a rag and tell me to clean up after the dog.
Looks like the Repubs will keep repeating the smear attack/condem the smear attack story cycle for seven months. First spread the smear to see if it sticks. Then promote the good hearted leadership who really wants no part of this smear, with each denial again spreading the smear.
Rove just realizes in the coming election, the repubs cannot afford to put off the ’soft racists’ people who probably are racist, but don’t like to think of themselves as racist. If the RNC goes overtly racist, those people will probably stay home or maybe even vote for Obama.
Besides, all Rove is saying is that the mainstream right-wing should keep it’s hands clean. He knows the grass-roots right-wing is going to go batshit ugly racist, fear-mongering.
Kevin @ 23:
Thank you. Signed,
Lollimom Satan Blackstone
Ellie @ 6:
Spot on !
Max-1 @ 10:
GREAT article. Nice to have some calm perspective amongst all the noise.
Is it possible that anything that reminds people of pre ‘08 Iraq is to be avoided?
Kevin @ 23:
I am waiting for Obama to run a commercial that starts with “My name is Barack Hussein Obama and I approve this message.” He could run a series on YouTube explaining his life and get free coverage in the MSM.
What’s his game, here?
“…would perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted and would hurt the party.”
“perpetuate the notion”?
that isn’t an accurate statement. i think “give further proof” would be much more accurate.
Fanon @ 34:
Make the republican party not seem so racist. While relying on grass-roots right-wingers to carry on the smears, and let fox news pick it up.
I believe that this is very much the same as what happened with McCain and Bill “the human megaphone” Cunningham. Once its out there and being repeated over and over by friendly talking heads, then you condemn it and it becomes a win win. You look above the fray good and the message you wanted all along to get out, got out. Same thing happened when the lady ask McCain about beating the BITCH. He said at the time excellent question, later condemned it. It got play from the talking heads and it became a win win. Now that everyone on the dark side has repeated Barack HUSSEIN Obama enough times then you can condemn it and it becomes a win win.
It’s unexpected, but even Karl Rove is discouraging Republican attack dogs from throwing around Barack Obama’s middle name.
But you know the reason: McCain’s middle name is…
SIDNEY!
May we now shout this from the rooftops, please???
Rove knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s just another “brilliant” move by Doctor Evil himself. Just by making this statement he’s assured of press coverage on Obama’s middle name. It’s out there now and sooner or later all this coverage and talk will stick. He knows it, he’s done it before plenty of times, and in the meantime he can pretend the Repub leadership wants no part of it. Each time they reject the “name smearing” publicly it gets implanted deeper and deeper in the ignorant electorate’s subconscious.
“It’s unexpected, but even Karl Rove is discouraging Republican attack dogs from throwing around Barack Obama’s middle name.”
Call me a cynic, but I’m sure it’s because he didn’t think it up.
American terrorist and Christian Republan sympathizer Tim McVeigh’s middle name was ‘James’. He also had blond hair and blue eyes.
So when do we ship all American James’s with blond hair and blue eyes to Gitmo ?
This whole thing is insane. No intelligent person is going to switch their vote to McCain just because of Obama’s middle name. The ones who aren’t going to vote for him because of his name or what religion they think he is, will not change no matter what the facts may prove. I think using his name or claiming that he is Muslim is nothing more than an excuse to not vote for a black man. Their narrow minds just can’t allow them to get past his appearance. If he had his mother’s features and coloration, I doubt we would be hearing all this foolishness about name and religion from these stooges.
Fanon @ 34:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXkVZ0rloio
Filthy Harry @36
Why Rove? You could have had anybody come out and say that. Why not McCain? Or one of the former repub candidates? Just seems odd to me that it would come from him.
Hard to believe that (a) anyone is trying to make an issue out of Obama’s middle name and (b) that Rove needs to advise against it. In terms of political discourse, ours might be among the poorest nations on the earth.
ysbad
Very clever response!
In other words, smear him a different way!
Chico @ 41:
That is completely and entirely different, he was not sitting on our OIL!
Joe @ 39:
I agree.
Why do I get a Monty Python, wink wink nudge nudge say no more image running through my cynical little head?!
They will NOT abandon their southern strategy, especially in
Alabama
Florida
Tennesee
Georgia
Texas
Mississippi
Kansas
Arkansas
Colorado
Arizona
Oklahoma
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
Maryland
Nebraska
Ohio
P