# "You can have your Tiger Woods. We've got Senator mcCain!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563 "2008-04-09T03:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/1 "2008-04-09T03:34:10Z")
The line in the thread title was spoken by somebody named [David Bellavia](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/08/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4001292.shtml) who was introducing McCain at a small rally of pro-Iraq veterans today. Keith Olbermann and some folks on the internets think Bellavia had some kind of racist intent. I’m not entirely convinced of that, but I can’t quite figure out what he _did_ mean. Other than (for lack of a better term) “mixed race,” what do Barack Obama and Tiger Woods have in common and why did Mr. Bellavia think it was disparaging to _compare_ Obama to Woods? I think most people would take it as a compliment. Does anyone have any ideas or insights into what Bellavia was trying to say that does not involve any kind of veiled racial insinuation? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/2 "2008-04-09T03:36:32Z")
He might have been comparing Woods’ skill at golf with Obama’s widespread popularity and subtly saying that neither of them is as good as McCain’s experience. Or not. That statement is really awfully confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/3 "2008-04-09T03:43:32Z")
I thought I invented this. In the movie Born in East LA Cheech Martin is asked who the US President is. “That dude from Death Valley Days; John Wayne.” He gets deported. My innovation, “That thin Black guy, you know TIger Woods.” ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/4 "2008-04-09T04:33:56Z")
Weird. That’s the [third Tiger Wood comparison](http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/whats_with_the.html) in recent weeks. Two McCain supporters, one Obama supporter. On the plus side, the Obama campaign has just made it clear that it will not stand for any even [slightly-seeming racist remark](http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/883120,CST-NWS-trustee08.article), no matter what the context or what the connection is to the Obama campaign, and will quickly drum that person out for even the most innocuous remark, even if the person is a private citizen and not even part of Obama’s team! Anything that could even be slightly construed by even a few people as maybe possibly offensive will not be tolerated! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/5 "2008-04-09T04:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Weird. That’s the [third Tiger Wood comparison](http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/whats_with_the.html) in recent weeks. Two McCain supporters, one Obama supporter. On the plus side, the Obama campaign has just made it clear that it will not stand for any even [slightly-seeming racist remark](http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/883120,CST-NWS-trustee08.article), no matter what the context or what the connection is to the Obama campaign, and will quickly drum that person out for even the most innocuous remark, even if the person is a private citizen and not even part of Obama’s team! Anything that could even be slightly construed by even a few people as maybe possibly offensive will not be tolerated! [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s extreme and ridiculous but from a political perspective, everyone Barack Obama has the slightest acquaintance with is being put under a microscope, and every utterance by anyone even tangentially connected with the campaign is being parsed and sifted for gotchya yas. Right, wrong or indifferent, the campaign has to take some measures to keep from getting hijacked by these stupid, contrived little “controversies” every 15 seconds. A couple of days ago, Obama had to apologize because some radio talk show host in Fargo called John McCain a “warmonger” at a Democratic fundraiser in North Dakota. The facts don’t matter. If the campaign hadn’t taken some action, we’d have seen a solid week of Sean Hannity expressing sanctimonious outrage about an Obama’s “racist” staffer. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/6 "2008-04-09T05:06:47Z")
I thnk he was saying that Obama was was young, charismatic and superficial - all flash, no substance. A celebrity, not a leader. Myabe, Maybe he was implying that all the attention Obama received was because he was the first black man do to well in a traditionally white sport. Personally, instead of Tiger Woods I would have said Will Smith. I mean, because of the ears. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/7 "2008-04-09T05:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] I thnk he was saying that Obama was was young, charismatic and superficial - all flash, no substance. A celebrity, not a leader. Myabe, Maybe he was implying that all the attention Obama received was because he was the first black man do to well in a traditionally white sport. [/quote] But Tiger is _not_ just flash. He delivers the goods. He is _all_ substance, at least in his chosen field. As for Obama breaking a color barriers, what’s wrong with that? I guess it’s possible he might have only been making comparison of a war hero to a sports hero, but it’s hard for me to believe he didn’t intend any allusion to Obama at all. > [@](#): > > Personally, instead of Tiger Woods I would have said Will Smith. I mean, because of the ears. Oddly enough, Obama has actually joked publicly that Will Smith would be his choice to play him in a movie because “he’s got the ears.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/8 "2008-04-09T05:32:49Z")
My own take (since you all clamoring to hear) is that its a tragic result of a young Republican trying to be hip, with it, and a copacetic cat. There is a new variety of “racist” humor, jokes that upon depend cultural differences but are not intended malignantly, like jokes about black people talking out loud at the movies. I _think_ that’s a healthy development. I think. The lame delivery, the robot-like imitation of timing, the way the joke was lofted into the air like a bowling ball, and the dreadful expectation of appreciative laughter. Classic of the syndrome. (Way back in darker ages, there was a picture of Newt Gangrene with muttonchop whiskers, the archetype of the desperate cry “Conservatives are cool! No, really!” The picture seems to have vanished down the Memory Hole…) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/9 "2008-04-09T05:35:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] But Tiger is _not_ just flash. He delivers the goods. He is _all_ substance, at least in his chosen field. [/QUOTE] I agree with that - but disagreeing with it isn’t neccessarily racist. The guy in the OP didn’t compare Obama to Shaq or Tyson or Michael Lawrence, did he? Those would have been racist comparisons, because other than their race, they have nothing in common with Obama. It’s perfectly legitimate to compare a politician you don’t like to a specific sports star or movie star, so long as the two have some sort of superficial resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/10 "2008-04-09T05:40:23Z")
Tiger Woods can’t bowl either? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/11 "2008-04-09T05:42:46Z")
Incidentally, change “Michael Lawrence” to “Martin Lawrence” in my last post. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/12 "2008-04-09T05:45:08Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Incidentally, change “Michael Lawrence” to “Martin Lawrence” in my last post. [/QUOTE] I was wondering who that was. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/13 "2008-04-09T05:47:12Z")
World famous Stabucks _barista_, aka"Lawrence of Arabica". Glad to help. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/14 "2008-04-09T05:52:09Z")
Somebody order a rope? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/15 "2008-04-09T05:59:27Z")
The Masters is about to start…could that have something to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/16 "2008-04-09T06:11:03Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] The Masters is about to start…could that have something to do with it? [/QUOTE] I could see that putting Woods in the front of someone’s mind, but I still don’t quite get the comparsion to Obama. I think my most charitable reading was that he was comparing “real” heroes to celebrity/sports heroes, that Tiger jumped into his mind as the first example and that no comparison to Obama was intended at all. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/17 "2008-04-09T13:37:53Z")
There’s really no way to read this without race as an element. It sounds like the guy compared Obama to Woods because they’re both (to use **Alessan** ’s apt word) charismatic, and dark-skinned guys of mixed ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/18 "2008-04-09T13:45:11Z")
I think this is pretty innocent. I think we’ll get enough racial slurs out of McCain supporters this summer that we’ll be able to pick better ones than this to get all worked up about. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/19 "2008-04-09T14:21:08Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] I think this is pretty innocent. I think we’ll get enough racial slurs out of McCain supporters this summer that we’ll be able to pick better ones than this to get all worked up about. [/QUOTE] So you’re saying this is just spring training? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/20 "2008-04-09T14:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Sens. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), who endorsed McCain’s candidacy and joined him on stage, echoed the Arizona senator’s sentiments. > > “Do not underestimate the contribution you have made on the political battlefield at home,” Lieberman said. “Do we want al Qaeda and Iran to win a victory in Iraq?” > > “No!” the vets screamed. > > Graham added, “More than anything else, we need you to win.” > > “You want to know who wants you to come home more than anybody?” Graham continued. “al Qaeda because you’re kicking their ass.” Holy crap! ::tiptoes toward door:: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563.md?page=2)