# What would happen if Clinton or McCain used the "n-word"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390 "2008-02-13T02:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/41 "2008-02-14T22:10:16Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > To respond, I think Obama would be in deep, deep shit if he called any woman bitch. Certainly not as much trouble as either one of the white candidates would be if they called Obama a nigger. A bitch isn’t just a general insult for a woman, it’s also a comment on her character. And a pretty apt one, as far as the general populace thinks. Perhaps referring to her as a ‘slit’ or ‘slash’\* might be a better parallel. \*two terms that are used infrequently, but they’re the only ones I can think of that could be similarly insulting to a woman without being a comment on their individual character. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/42 "2008-02-14T22:11:36Z")
[QUOTE=Diomedes] Certainly not as much trouble as either one of the white candidates would be if they called Obama a nigger. A bitch isn’t just a general insult for a woman, it’s also a comment on her character. And a pretty apt one, as far as the general populace thinks. Perhaps referring to her as a ‘slit’ or ‘slash’\* might be a better parallel. [/QUOTE] _Cunt_ is a term I’ve heard used a few times, and even though I’m not a big fan of hers, I cringe every time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/43 "2008-02-14T22:21:28Z")
[QUOTE=stolichnaya] What would happen if Huckabee kidnapped the world’s cutest puppy and forced it at knifepoint to eat a human fetus? [/QUOTE] Was the fetus already aborted and going to be used for stem cells, or was it a Sharon Tate type deal? In response to the OP, it would be bad. If it were McCain then Fox News would lead with “John McCain (D-Arizona) Uses N-Word- Huckabee Raises Heath Ledger From Dead” or if it were Clinton they’d lead with "Hillary Clinton (D-Jew York) Says Nigger, Sources Say She Called Rice a ‘Nappy Headed Ho’ and Speaks of “Final Solution to the Irish”. For CNN, if I were his campaign manager I’d make sure that Natalie Holloway’s body was found or that Michael Vick was given a children’s reality show or that Britney ran over a blind nun holding a panda cub sometime the next week, because then they’d forget all about it and only focus on that scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/44 "2008-02-14T22:36:28Z")
You knew that Bill is Irish, right? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/45 "2008-02-14T22:41:58Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] _Cunt_ is a term I’ve heard used a few times, and even though I’m not a big fan of hers, I cringe every time. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I thought about that, but it’s another term, like bitch, that correlates with ‘jerk’, in my experience. Perhaps misogynists try to mask their bigotry a little bit better than racists, but all of the good anti-woman terms are loaded with decent reasons to dislike someone. ‘Nigger’ works as a catchall insult that doesn’t allow for dispute. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/46 "2008-02-15T00:03:30Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] You knew that Bill is Irish, right? [/QUOTE] Shame on you as a Southerner! Bill is \*Scots-\*Irish- huuuuuuuuuuuge difference. Besides, it’s a Fox News report so who expects accuracy? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/47 "2008-02-15T00:26:08Z")
Wow, the consensus is only white Democrats would find it offensive, especially if Obama used the word. So, I guess some folks here think Republicans don’t really mind racism, they only pretend to mind racism. And black people must actually like racism, I guess. Seems a mighty simplistic way to look at the people you live with. Tris ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/48 "2008-02-15T01:05:58Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] To respond, I think Obama would be in _deep_, deep shit if he called _any_ woman bitch. [/QUOTE] I’d like to see **Shayna’s** response to that…her support of Obama is pretty precarious, you know, and I’d be curious if that tips it… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/49 "2008-02-17T01:05:30Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] It seems to me that in the US, people are given a lot more leeway in using ethnic slurs if the slur applies to their own group. If Giuliani had used a word like “dago” or “guinea,” it would be much less of a problem than if another (non-Italian-American) candidate had used it. [/QUOTE] Yes, but am I allowed to call Tom Tancredo “that Sicilian bastard”? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390/50 "2008-02-17T18:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] 😕 As far as I can tell, this thread was **started** on wild fantasies of candidates acting totally out of character. Do you really think it’s any more plausible that HRC would be caught saying “nigger” than that Obama would call her a bitch? To respond, I think Obama would be in _deep_, deep shit if he called _any_ woman bitch. [/QUOTE] Perhaps with the notable exception of the bitch running against him… 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-clinton-or-mccain-used-the-n-word/437390.md?page=2)