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A "tar baby" obviously would be black, but just as obviously would not really be a baby and therefore not a black baby. The tar baby in The Song of the South is a trick which catches Brer Rabbit, but the color of the "baby" has no obvious invidious meaning, and the story reflects on Brer Rabbit for being petulent and for being easily fooled by a crude trick - and not on any putative model of the tar baby itself. Anyone who really objected to that should be apoplectic over ever having been called "black" - but that is not the history of the use of that adjective.
The central issue is not however the particulars of the instance, but the ability of a potential presidential candidate to stand on his hind legs. The Republican Party is the party of the middle class, and the middle class is predominantly white. Whoso would represent the middle class should be willing to defend people who are unfairly attacked, even if they are white. A potential presidential candidate has to be able to defend himself before anyone would suppose that he might defend others.
Jack Kemp is a noted advocate of racial equality and of opportunity for all, blacks not remotely excluded. And Jack Kemp was the author of the Kemp-Roth bill which transformed the Republican Party in the 1970s from the party of the balanced budget to he party of sane tax rates. Kemp was a logical choice for VP nominee in '96, and failing of election then would have been the logical choice for the presidential nomination in '00.
But Kemp blew all that in the VP debate when Al Gore flattered Kemp as the only non-racist Republican, and Kemp did not defend the Republican Party. Who wanted to associate themselves with a racist party, as Kemp allowed it to be branded??? After all the good that Kemp had done for the party, his leadership in it came to an ignoble end. A textbook case of how to to lose your base.