G.O.P. Rep. Refers to Obama as ‘That Boy’

By Kate Phillips

It sounds like the Kentucky Republicans had a Grand Ole Time on Saturday night, gearing up for battles with the Democrats with a host of barbs that drew laughter and chuckles. Just getting warmed up for the general cycle, and tossing out some red meat, as the cliche goes.

But now circulated, some of the remarks are drawing charges of racial insensitivity.

At a Lincoln Day Dinner in the Fourth Congressional District in northern Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Democratic presidential candidates, singling out Senator Barack Obama in particular.

“I fear the two Democrats, one in particular, is incredibly naive,” Mr. McConnell said, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader’s political blog, and then noted that Mr. Obama was still an Illinois lawmaker when the nation went to war. “This is the big leagues now. At what point do you turn off the demagoguery and become a serious, responsible leader?”

Congressman Geoff Davis, took the criticisms of Mr. Obama a few steps further, likening the change slogan to the pitch of a “snake oil salesman.” He then relayed to the audience that he had taken party in a “highly classified, national security simulation” with Obama.

“I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Mr. Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.”

Once the “boy” remarks began to circulate on the Internet, the Obama campaign moved swiftly to criticize them. “It’s hard to tell what is more outrageous - Representative Davis’s condescending and personal attack, or his absurd and offensive claim that Barack Obama is not prepared to defend America. Geoff Davis may hide behind offensive tough talk, but he has marched in lock-step with Bush-McCain policies that have devastated our national security, while Barack Obama has stood up against a misguided war in Iraq and worked with respected Republicans like Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel to secure loose weapons and nuclear materials from terrorists,” Bill Burton, the campaign spokesman said.

Update | 5:30: Mr. Davis has sent a letter of apology to Mr. Obama, and described his comments as a “poor choice of words,” according to The Associated Press.