Political Skin/Stimulating Fingers

As the Republican Party and its supporters retrench after their defeat, the appeal to ancient values finds new words. Racist insinuations are among the many things that have changed since Obama became president. Fox News reported today that there would likely be no Republican “fingerprints” on the stimulus package, so that in the next presidential election four years from now, the bill would be a matter of “Obama’s political skin.” Overtly this means the stimulus bill is Obama’s political skin in the sense that his continued success depends on its actually stimulating the economy. The phrase also allows the Fox viewer to substitute the bill for Obama’s skin. If you don’t like one, the knowing looks implied, then you won’t like the other. Obama’s presidency is forcing racists to invent new connotations for old phrases. Not wanting to vote for the stimulus bill is comparable to not wanting to touch a black man’s skin was the message. This combination of refusing liberal spending in the name of refusing contact with black people may have been around a long time, but it is now being directed not just against the downtrodden but also the president.