Language that prompted charges of racist animosity towards President Obama in June has emerged, in August, as the hook for a new raffle raising money for his campaign.
“It’s safe to say this campaign has run a lot of contests,” wrote Ann Marie Habershaw, the Obama campaign’s chief operating officer, in an email. “But even I think this convention contest is pretty damn cool.You’ll be automatically entered to meet President Obama in Charlotte and, when he takes the stage, sit up front with First Lady Michelle Obama if you pitch in $5 or whatever you can today.”
As Habershaw noted, the raffle concept is an old one to the campaign. So, too, is the salty language.
Her email gets funny when you recall that the Angela Rye, executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, said “cool” is a racially-charged term when applied to President Obama.
“There’s an ad, talking about [how] the president is too cool, [asking] is he too cool? And there’s this music that reminds me of, you know, some of the blaxploitation films from the 70s playing in the background, him with his sunglasses,” Rye said in June, referring to an ad by Karl Rove’s super PAC, American Crossroads. “Even ‘cool,’ the term ‘cool,’ could in some ways be deemed racial [in this instance],” she added.
