Oy vey.
The 13.5-inch tall figures, which were available in some Grand Rapids-area stores, move as they sing parodies and recite messages not approved by the candidates.
Obama's box, for example, proclaims, "The senator from Illinois gets down and funky!" To the tune of "Oh Susannah," he sings, "I'm Obama, why don't you vote for me? Treat yourself to four more years of this face on TV" -- and several other verses.
The Hillary Doll was offensive too.
Clinton's version played a reworked, "My Country 'Tis of Thee," singing, "My name is Hillary, first broad of history."
"Some people were just offended by them based on what they said and did," Walgreens spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said.
Even so, the Obama dolls were apparently flying off the shelves:
"[I]t also created some situations where one of the figures was more popular than the other and people wondered if we were endorsing a candidate."
Bruce said stores in Illinois quickly sold out of Obama figures, leaving shoppers to find shelves of McCains and Clintons, thinking the drugstore chain was attempting to steer voters.
You can watch videos of the offending dolls at the link or embedded right here!
UPDATE: Some folks aren't clear on why Barack Obama singing "Oh Susanna" in a goofy way is offensive to a lot of people. Well, "Oh Susanna" was a staple of the old Blackface Minstrel repetoire. The song was written by Stephen Foster in the antebellum period.
The original version of the song contained the lyric:
I jump'd aboard the telegraph and trabbled down de ribber,
De lectrick fluid magnified, and kill'd five hundred Nigga.
De bulgine bust and de hoss ran off, I really thought I'd die;
I shut my eyes to hold my bref -- Susanna don't you cry.
Hope that clarifies the title of my diary.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Oh, and when the doll says: "The senator from Illinois gets down and funky!" -- That's offensive too. And it should be obvious why.
FINAL UPDATE: For those of you who were wondering, there is a Sarah Palin doll -- Wasilla Barbie.
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and Tweety-Bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's ass when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free."