Nashville News Blog

It's a sexist smear to wonder whether Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as vice president. But it's all in good fun to picture Barack Obama as a Muslim Aunt Jemima on a box of waffles. That's the viewpoint of some officials in the Tennessee Republican Party who were asked to comment on Obama Waffles, the brainchild of a pair of really funny guys from Franklin who are represented by Steve Gill's radio show.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Bill Hobbs, a spokesman for the Tennessee Republican Party, said the Obama Waffles are an example of grassroots supporters getting involved in the political process.

“Candidates, campaigns and parties aren't responsible for the actions and messages of every single freelancer from the grassroots and should not be subjected to constant calls to denounce, defend or explain the actions of freelancers,” he said.

Mr. Hobbs said the party did not have a stance on whether the Obama Waffles were offensive. He did say that Sen. Obama and his supporters are “hyper-sensitive to criticism of ‘The One’ and will label almost any criticism of him ‘racist,’ even if it isn’t.”

Brett Hale, vice chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party, said he had heard about the novelty item but had not seen pictures. He said critics are overreacting.

“People are reading into things so much nowadays,” he said. “It’s too bad we have to be so politically correct.”

h/t Kleinheider.