Playerhate much?

Karl Rove basically advising Republicans to do what they've done since Nixon:

ABC News' Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning,  former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as "coolly arrogant."

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," Rove said, per Christianne Klein. "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." 

I didn't know Puffy was running for president. Seriously, is this political advice, or psychotherapy. Karl seems like he's dealing with some, uhh, issues. Did Obama snatch his girlfriend too? Did he take his bike when they were five?

I'm with Matt. I mean, how did you even get in the country club to see this "cooly arrogant" martini drinking, cigarette smoking dilittante with the hot date? I haven't had the pleasure of being some place where I would have seen this fellow. And I keep my elitism credentials fairly current. Live in Manhattan. Enjoy a latte or two. Like fancy resteraunts. Why don't I know this dude??

Comments

It would make sense if he was talking about Puff Daddy, who's engaged in a long-term feud with MC Rove.

Posted by Dan Miller | June 23, 2008 6:00 PM

My first thought was, 'So Rove LIKES Michelle!" That was the shocking part to me. But he could have be suggesting Obama is a Harold Ford Jr. playboy-bunny chasing Negro.

Posted by srpeter | June 23, 2008 6:32 PM

I think this sounds more like "if I can't have him, I don't want him to president". in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find "Mr.Karl Obama" scrawled in his math textbook.

Posted by Stephen Bank | June 23, 2008 8:30 PM

Why don't I know this dude??

You may not know him, but he knows you. And he told me he thinks your outfit is tragic. And those shoes!...

Posted by FearItself | June 23, 2008 8:58 PM

Maybe Karl has an unrequited crush on Michele and hates Barack for standing in his way. She is kinda foxy.

/high school hallway psychology

Oh man, if this is the best of the Republican attack lines this year, I predict an Obamaslide this fall.

Posted by Breukelyne | June 24, 2008 3:21 PM

Actually, Karl doesn't have a college degree and I think he has a serious amount of resentment for those who are academically successful. When asked to define a liberal, he once said, "Somebody with a Ph.D."

Probably he feels he's been passed by for opportunities because of his lack of credentials, and he feels, like so many conservatives, that academia is biased against them.

The "country club" thing seems kind of a rhetorical bank-shot, though.

Posted by Doctor Jay | June 24, 2008 6:29 PM

Maybe he got Obama confused with Tiger Woods? I mean, we do all look alike.

Posted by Darkrose | June 24, 2008 8:36 PM

The GOP might as well go ahead and call Barack an "uppity n****r". They've been dancing all around it since he won the nomination.

Posted by ladyday | June 24, 2008 9:58 PM

I'm not so sure you're picking up on the full meaning of Rove's comments. If you envision a "beautiful date at a country club" you are in all likelihood thinking about a white woman. And that is particularly true for an audience of GOP operatives at the Capitol Hill Club. Now put it together: Rove is saying Obama is a black man who has somehow forced or finagled his way into "our" white institutions (symbolized by the country club), and he wants to sleep with "our" white women (symbolized by the beautiful date). The message is straight out The Birth of The Nation, and Obama is made out as Gus and Silas Lynch all wrapped up into one. That's what was implicitly telegraphed to me. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it because I'm a white guy with family members who talk the same way Rove does and harbor the same apparent racial paranoia. Whatever it was, his implicit message came through to me and I found it truly shocking that very few people picked up on it or wanted to write about it. Talking Points Memo only picked up on all of it this morning -- or rather one of their readers did.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/201563.php

Posted by Callimaco | June 25, 2008 3:28 PM

@ Callimaco: I'm sure that was part of Rove's angle. And if so: poorly done, Rove!

The Obamas have been spending a lot of focus on Michele's image. Not to be shallow and all, but she has great style and she's attractive. Did you see her on The Colbert Report? She had on this little green dress that showed off some serious leg, I swear she was making Steven a little nervous, he kept trying to flirt with her, lol.

I'm more amused that Karl Rove may have accidentally bolstered the image of Michele Obama as a stone cold fox. Because when he mentions Barack as being the guy with the beautiful date, it's not a huge mental jump to think of Michele on his arm in one of her sleeveless sexy-formal Maria Pinto gowns.

I'm sure it might have been intended as a "dog whistle" but with the Obama's relationship being very visibly positive on the campaign trail, it's not that clever of a dog whistle.

Posted by Breukelyne | June 25, 2008 4:42 PM