Indignant Desert Birds

By Ara Rubyan
Cross posted at E Pluribus Unum

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

— Karl Rove, describing Barack Obama

When I first read about this comment, my immediate reaction was that I couldn’t think of a single country club that would admit a black man named Barack Hussein Obama. Then I thought Rove was doing his usual shtick, i.e., take his greatest weakness and ascribe it to his opponent. In other words, I felt that he was describing George W. Bush at the club, not Obama. Makes much more sense that way, given Bush’s history with alcohol — and his smart mouth. It was much the same technique Rove used to destroy John Kerry’s Vietnam war record in 2004, all but accusing the nominee of being a liar and a coward. All this while Bush was hiding his “war record” in plain sight.

But a commenter at Talking Points Memo unpacked Rove’s comments differently than me and I think he nails it:

The key to the statement is that (in the image) he is with “a beautiful date.” Not Michelle Obama or, in the abstract, his wife, i.e. a wife like Michelle Obama. When you think of a “beautiful date” specifically at a country club, do you picture an African-American woman? Would Rove’s target audience?

Or do you picture him there, a black man, smoking a cigarette indoors at a country club, with a white woman on his arm?

When I thought of this, I got a chill. When you think of Obama’s vulnerability, I think the primaries showed that race remains a real and very serious obstacle, particularly with white Americans over 50. When you think of where we are with racism in this country, I think its a pretty safe bet that the final freak-out factor to overcome may be black men dating white women, in particular, one’s daughter.

If I were a completely amoral Republican operative, I’d try to find some white women that Obama dated before Michelle and get them into the public’s stream of consciousness anyway I could. Its a tactic so vile I don’t even like speculating about it, but if you want to be ready for the worst, I think Rove just tipped his hand at where they plan to go.

In all fairness, I have to ask if there is (or isn’t) the analogous scenario that an “amoral Democratic operative” could spring on McCain? Remember, in order for it to work, it has to resonate at the emotional level and be absolutely radioactive in the extreme. It has to address a fundamental fear that the electorate has about McCain.

Tags: conservative, election08, games, human rights, politics // 4 Comments »