-Cincinnati, OH

            Stepping up attacks on a Democratic contender, certain Republicans, most notably Cincinnati radio-host Billy Cunningham, have been slapped down by team McCain for attempting to use cultural fears to political advantage.

            “This is name-calling of the most sinister and literal sort,” says Democratic operative Bob Conti. “and these people are using this charged language to conjure up negative stereotypes in the minds of the listener.”

             Cunningham, at an Ohio rally for the Arizona Senator used the full name of the Senator from Illinois in what many considered to be a distasteful way. McCain has sought to distance himself from this kind of politics, turning bright red and issuing a statement through clenched teeth, a McCain trademark.

            “Names matter,” says a Republican insider who asked to remain anonymous. “You’ve got Clinton running with her first name which hasn’t been done successfully since ‘I Like Ike’. Why? Because it makes her seem more human, less like the cold, calculating political robot she’s perceived to be. She has done this to identify herself. Anytime- not just in Barack’s case- anytime you allow your opponents to identify you, you’re in trouble.”

            The painful irony here is that John McCain knows the agony of stereotyping of this kind. Just another rowdy, short-tempered, dirty-limerick-spouting, potato-eating Irishman? Clearly, John McCain realizes that these attacks can quickly turn on him. This really is the pot calling the kettle black. McCain too, not just O’Bama, is an Irishman.