Rove: Don't "Hussein" Obama

The Atlantic ^ | 2/27/08 | Marc Ambinder

[pissant]

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 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."

[upsdriver]

You are right but it will be done by the far right wackos of the Repub party. Gonna bite the Repubs in the fall.

Just out of curiousity, who are the far right wackos you are refering to?

[Arrowhead1952]

Thank you so much for that link. And I LOVE your tag line!

You are welcome Brandie. FWIW, I changed my tag line when that article about Rove asking people to NOT use Hussein when referring to Barack HUSSEIN Obama.

[Travis McGee]

Obama Once Visited '60s Radicals (Weather Underground Terrorists)

[Miss Didi]

You're welcome, Brandie. More on Obamamania from Rush:

RUSH:...Can we call him BHO? You know, presidents have initials. W is Dubya, JFK, RFK. We referred to Reagan, President Reagan. Jimmy Carter, we didn't call him Jimmy Earl Carter, but sometimes presidents are known by their three initials. BHO. Are we going to call him BO? I don't think we're going to do that. If he becomes president, we're not going to say, "BO! BO!" We're going to say BH? No, we'll say Barack or Obama. But we're being told can't use Hussein. We're being told we can't talk about his being a liberal. But I want to get Bill Cunningham off the hook here a little bit. Bill, apparently you're not to blame for this; I am. (cont.)



Talk Radio, McCain and BHO

Separating Obama's Followers from the Movement Won't Be Easy

[Intimidator]

Just out of curiousity, who are the far right wackos you are refering to?

I would say 75% of FR from what I've read in the last 8 years. Yourself I don't know , don't know your views. Most people on here are blinded by their own ideology as is most of DU for that matter. Nobody ever willing to listen to the other sides point of view and live in their shoes for awhile, thats the problem with politics in this country. You having a nice day today?

[Brandie]

Thanks for this as well, I really apprreciate it.

[Miss Didi]

My pleasure, American Warrior Dream Girl. ;)

[BreezyDog]

Rove is making an issue out of it by trying not to make an issue out of it...brilliant.

Rove you magnificent bastard!

[XenaLee]

Sorry Rove....but as a practical, conservative female who is also a realist....

I believe in calling a spade a spade. (ooops)

But seriously, after listening to the lefties call Bush, Cheney, Rove, Condi and anyone else in the Bush administration every malicious name they could think of...

I simply don’t CARE about being politically correct.
Tell it to Judith Martin. Or hire a psychic and channel Ann Landers.

Playing nice in the face of rabid leftist vitriol is how we got ourselves in the LOSING position in the first damn place.

[Miss Didi]

MATTHEWS: Rush Limbaugh's playing this game of saying, what's wrong with bringing up his middle name, what's wrong with playing that name? Is this going to be a vicious, almost ethnic fight going after the guy because of his heritage, his name, and saying he's going to sell us out. Is that what's coming?

RUSH:…By the way, hey, Chris, who was it that released that picture of Obama in the Ayman al-Zawahiri garb? Chris, I think it was the Clinton campaign who put that picture out, was it not? And who first really made a big deal of Obama's middle name? Was it not Senator Bob Kerrey, a Democrat from Nebraska? And who, I might add, was it that ran around and talked about him selling drugs, and maybe being a coke dealer, could that have been Bill Shaheen, another Democrat in New Hampshire? And who was it, Chris, who started playing the race card? What of Bob Johnson, the guy from BET, what did he say?

Who Pushed Hussein Angle First?

Drive-Bys Mischaracterize Rush in the Barack Hussein Obama Flap

[nicmarlo]

"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.

good grief!

[nicmarlo]

bump!

[mad_as_he$$]

Rove you are irrelevant. Slink off to the woods and die a graceful death. Anybody listening to you needs to had their head examined.

[mad_as_he$$]

Ditto.