John McCain recited a poem he wrote about Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign stop in Iowa. In it, he hinted that Barack Obama is a terrorist who will kill Americans if elected.
Barack, Barack, it rhymes with Iraq - If you vote for him, he'll have you shot
Obama, Obama, it rhymes with Osama - If you vote for him, he'll blow up your mama
Hussein, Hussein, it's his middle name - If you vote for him, he'll kill and maim
Afterwards, the crowd cheered and applauded McCain's words. One man at the rally said, "He was right about bombing Iran and he's right about Obama being a terrorist!" Another supporter claimed McCain is a great comic, "He's like Chris Rock or Jeff Foxworthy or Dr. Suess, but probably more like Chris Rock since it was racial humor."
Obama's campaign repudiated McCain's poem calling it "racist, horrible, sickening and probably not true."
When asked by a reporter if he would apologize for the remarks, McCain responded, "Apologize for what? Offending Osama Bin Laden? Offending terrorists? Oh please! Get a life, man. It's a joke!"
McCain also said he failed to see how Obama could think the poem was about him. "I had to have some words that rhymed with Osama, Iraq and maine...it just happened to be Barack's name. Look man, poetry ain't easy, ask Eminem. Get a life."
Hillary Clinton blamed McCain's poem on George Bush, claiming the stress of the war in Iraq has driven McCain to say such things. No Republican candidate had any comments.
