In what I can describe as a blissful moment in American politics, Obama has begun today to use the reprehensible debate topics from last night to his advantage. In a speech today in North Carolina, Obama has ascended to what I can only describe as rap star levels of coolness in the face of unending assault from ABC, the rest of the media, Clinton, and McCain.
More below the fold....
From Obama's speech:
"That was the roll-out of the Republican campaign against me in November. That is what they will do," Mr. Obama said. "They will try to focus on all these issues that don’t have anything to do with how you pay your bills at the end of the month."
"Look, I understand that because that’s the text book Washington game. That’s how our politics has been taught to be played," Mr. Obama said. "That’s the lesson that she learned when the Republicans were doing that same thing to her back in the 1990s. So I understand it and when you’re running or the presidency than you’ve got to expect it."
He told the audience that he intended to let the criticism roll off of him. As he spoke, he made a dramatic gesture of wiping off his sleeves and dusting off his dark suit.
"That’s what you got to do," he said, drawing loud applause from the audience. "That’s what you’ve got to do. But understand this, that is also precisely why I’m running for president – to change that kind of politics."
For the uninitiated, what makes Obama's simple gesture of brushing the dirt off his suit so bad ass? It's a gesture used in the past few years by many rappers and at least most of the kids at the suburban high school at which I teach. It's a gesture that describes brushing off the "dirt" slung by enemies and adversaries.
From rapper Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder":
"You're now tuned into the muh'f....in greatest
Turn the music up in the headphones
....
If you feelin’ like a pimp...
....
You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder
You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder
You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder
You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder"
Complete lyrics (Warning, explicit lyrics)
Video of the song, demonstrating the gesture (Warning, explicit lyrics)
Besides being in touch with youth and younger generations, this gesture, along with Obama's entire speech today in North Carolina, turns what might possibly have been a very bad night last night into a great opportunity for a deeper debate about the media in America and an opportunity to continue to separate himself in the polls from Hillary Clinton and hopefully take Pennsylvania.
So dust last night's dirt off your shoulders, just like Jay-Z raps and Obama did himself.