Talk about internecine upset. The office of Senator Bob Corker, Republican from Tennessee, has weighed in today, siding with Senator Barack Obama’s objections to the state’s G.O.P. Web campaign against Michelle Obama.
To recap, the officialdom of the Tennessee G.O.P. posted a Web spot that mines remarks Mrs. Obama made.
Her comments have been reverberating for nearly three months or so now, ricocheted around in some Democratic and Republican circles as a question mark on Mr. Obama’s patriotism (along with that flag lapel pin issue).
This morning, on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, Mr. and Mrs. Obama sat down for an interview and were asked about the Tennessee Web ad. The enduring words for Mr. Obama — who reached out his hand at one point toward his wife’s knee to answer the question himself — were “Lay Off My Wife.”
Today, Mr. Corker’s chief of staff, Todd Womack, demanded that his boss’ state party remove the Web ad:
After the Republican National Committee damaged our campaign with their infamous ‘Call Me’ ad — which we immediately denounced — we have strongly encouraged the national party and state parties to absolutely refrain from getting involved in negative personal campaigning, and we have asked the state party to remove their You Tube ad from their Web site.
Republicans will be in much better shape if we spend our time focused on issues like reducing federal spending, lowering the cost of health care and creating a coherent energy policy.Late last week, the Tennessee G.O.P. Web site posted a response to objections to this latest effort. Earlier this year, the state party sent out a release with a photo of Mr. Obama dressed in African garb, that many — including Senator John McCain — later denounced.
Are we in for a long, hot summer of temper tantrums from Tennessee Democrats and Barack Obama supporters whining “racism” and “bigotry” every time their likely presidential nominee is the target of a little criticism and dissent?
Judging from the temper tantrum they’re tossing today over our light-hearted video holding Michelle Obama accountable for scripted remarks she made on two separate occasions on the campaign trail on behalf of her husband, the answer is yes. A long, hot summer? Also sounds like it’s not just Obama supporters who have been complaining about the path the Tennessee G.O.P. is taking. All this, guaranteed, is a preview of what’s to come for the general election cycle.
Video at linkhttp://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/tennessee-gop-senator-takes-on-his-own-party/
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