# "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:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/41 "2008-04-09T20:11:56Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Does anyone have any ideas or insights into what Bellavia was trying to say that does not involve any kind of veiled racial insinuation? [/QUOTE] no. it was clearly a veiled racial insinuation. I don’t know what to say… So what about Colin Powell, Michael Jordon, Oprah, and so many more admirable, successful Black people … just because someone is greatly admired by a wide range of people and happens to be black does not mean we have to categorize them as some type of anomaly. ---
**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, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/42 "2008-04-09T20:15:39Z")
Did you hear that Tiger’s middle name is “Hussein”? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/43 "2008-04-09T20:27:04Z")
I was listening to Sean Hannity’s radio show just now. Newt Gingrich was on the air as a phone-in commentator. He decribed Obama as being a “rock star” of the Democratic Party, giving speeches to large crowds, and contrasted that with McCains “Town Hall” style, where he is meeting only a few hundred folks at a time, and “actually listening, answering questions, and learning from the voters themselves about, what specifically concerns them”. See? I _knew_ that McCain’s weaker crowd draws was going to be spun into a virtue. Heh. (They were not talking about Bellavia.) Sometimes I scare myself. _wiggle eyebrows_ ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/44 "2008-04-09T20:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] That’s an interesting comparison, since Arnie is about the same age as McCain. [/QUOTE] That’s what’s funny about it, they are ostensibly trying to say that Obama’s overrated but they are using the example of a young black guy that is far and away better than anyone who has ever played a game that is generally dominated by older and experienced white men. You’d think they’d appreciate the irony of that one. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/45 "2008-04-09T20:33:22Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] I was listening to Sean Hannity’s radio show just now. Newt Gingrich was on the air as a phone-in commentator. He decribed Obama as being a “rock star” of the Democratic Party, giving speeches to large crowds, and contrasted that with McCains “Town Hall” style, where he is meeting only a few hundred folks at a time, and “actually listening, answering questions, and learning from the voters themselves about, what specifically concerns them”. See? I _knew_ that McCain’s weaker crowd draws was going to be spun into a virtue. Heh. (They were not talking about Bellavia.) Sometimes I scare myself. _wiggle eyebrows_ [/QUOTE] Well we can see how well George HW Bush deriding Bill Clinton for appearing on MTV got him. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/46 "2008-04-09T20:33:58Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] See? I _knew_ that McCain’s weaker crowd draws was going to be spun into a virtue. Heh. (They were not talking about Bellavia.) Sometimes I scare myself. _wiggle eyebrows_ [/QUOTE] Really? You mean you predicted that a politician would spin something so that it favors him? Got any stock picks? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/47 "2008-04-09T20:40:06Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Really? You mean you predicted that a politician would spin something so that it favors him? Got any stock picks? 😉 [/QUOTE] _crest fallen_ Mmm-mph. Way to go. here, let me lay down. Makes the kicking easier. Invest in Oil. I predict the price going up. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/48 "2008-04-09T20:42:44Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Well we can see how well George HW Bush deriding Bill Clinton for appearing on MTV got him. [/QUOTE] I don’t recall. I wasn’t paying attention to politics, back then. But I do remember wanting _some_ kind of change back in '92, it seemed the country was in some kind of mini-malaise. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/49 "2008-04-09T20:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] It could just be the physical resemblance. All them Halfricans look alike. [/QUOTE] Or maybe that both of them have, at times, been accused of not being fully black/black enough? And when it comes to not being black, McCain _is_ the clear leader… Nah, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/50 "2008-04-09T21:09:34Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] All them \*\*Halfricans \*\*look alike. [bolding mine] [/QUOTE] I find that word vaguely offensive and highly amusing. From now on I will refer that way to my kid. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/51 "2008-04-09T21:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] I don’t recall. I wasn’t paying attention to politics, back then. But I do remember wanting _some_ kind of change back in '92, it seemed the country was in some kind of mini-malaise. [/QUOTE] Well for those who don’t recall, Clinton won the election. ;p ---
**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, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/52 "2008-04-09T21:32:56Z")
[QUOTE=Mighty\_Girl] I find that word vaguely offensive and highly amusing. From now on I will refer that way to my kid. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I think Rush Limbaugh coined that particular gem. It has the unmistakable sparkle of his wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/53 "2008-04-09T23:36:55Z")
Yeah, the comment really makes no sense because the comparison is apples and oranges. Rating “Tiger Woods” lower than McCain is like rating a Dyson vacuum lower than an I-pod, and then assuming everyone in the audience believes the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/54 "2008-04-10T00:14:26Z")
I’m an Obama supporter, but I can see how this wasn’t meant in a racist way, FWIW. Since the Masters golf tournament is this weekend (arguably the most prestigious golf tournament of the year), and since Tiger Woods is likely the favorite to win, he could have been saying, in effect, “you can have your big sporting event…we’ve got McCain.” In other words, while lots of people are pining to be in Augusta, Georgia, watching Tiger Woods, the people at this rally weren’t wishing they were elsewhere, since they had a chance to see John McCain. As someone who is excited to watch this weekend’s final rounds of the Masters, and as someone who loves watching Tiger Woods lap the field, I do not concur with this sentiment. But, I do see how it could be an innocuous statement (albeit a lame one, since most people aren’t the ravenous golf fans this guy assumed them to be), which never intended to invoke the thought of Barak Obama. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/55 "2008-04-10T01:12:02Z")
Heh, Augusta National is where the real politicking is done though. That’s the uber-conspiracy! ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/56 "2008-04-10T01:42:08Z")
You can have your Senator McCain. We’ve got Danica Patrick! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/57 "2008-04-10T16:00:40Z")
I am appointing myself King of the Universe and my first order of business is to outlaw people demanding candidates repudiate other people’s remarks as if they were their own. The punishment will be season tickets to the New York Knicks with mandatory attendance. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/58 "2008-04-10T16:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I’m confused. If the guy is pro-McCain, why is he comparing Obama to Tiger Woods? Tiger is a smart, accomplished, successful, has a smokin’ hot wife… you name it. That’s a tremendous compliment. But there had to be some racial overtone (or undertone) to the comment, else why pick Tiger Woods? There is no obvious reason to compare the two except because of their racial background. But even still, it’s a really stupid way to try and pump up McCain… [/QUOTE] Not that hard to understand really. It’s just that not many of us (myself included) knew about Obama’s consistent ability to hit 300+ yards drives into the middle of the fairway. Never mind his game with the short irons, I hear it’s nothing short of amazing. So, overall, no harm done. At least I’m content that if America can’t have Obama as President, we will be still able to watch him going head-to-head with Tiger in the PGA Tour. About time he had some competition! And can you imagine the interviews after Barack wins a Major? Talk about ratings… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563/59 "2008-04-10T17:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] …The punishment will be season tickets to the New York Knicks with mandatory attendance. [/QUOTE] I have here a memo from legendary legal scholar and Constitutional expert John Yoo affirming that this is perfectly acceptable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-your-tiger-woods-weve-got-senator-mccain/444563.md?page=2)