I fully recognize that on one level, the utterance of a candidate’s middle name is of little ultimate consequence and that one can get overly hysterical on the subject. Further, people have every right to say whatever they like. However, following from that last point, it is also noteworthy that likewise one has the right to comment upon what others say, and to further question the purpose and motives behind given utterances.

I am of the opinion that many opponents of Barack Obama use his middle name for no other reason that to appeal to the baser natures of some voters. I certainly find radio commentator Bill Cunningham’s usage at a recent McCain rally, as well on his radio show and in other media appearances to be a knowing attempt to stoke irrational bigoted fears of things foreign and especially things Muslim.

If the year was 1942 and a candidate for office had a middle name of “Adolph” or “Tojo” and the opponent of said candidate continually stressed said middle name, the charge would be clear: the candidate with the funny middle name can’t be trusted, and might even be a traitor–with the basis for that “argument” being nothing more than the sounds formed by the letters of a middle name that may, or may not, reflect one’s ancestry, or just the taste of one’s parents.

As such, this is more than just taunts or, as Cunningham has claimed, “red meat” for the party faithful.

Along these line, Eric Zorn, blogging at the Chicago Tribune‘s Change of Subject, does an excellent job of summarizing this issue Middle-name calling is way over the line:

The only reason to say “Barack Hussein Obama,” as radio talk show host Bill Cunningham did repeatedly Tuesday in warming up a John McCain campaign rally in Cincinnati, is to try to excite anti-Muslim, anti-Arab prejudices (though Obama is neither Muslim nor of Arab descent) and not so subtly suggest that Obama’s actually a slippery foreigner.

Indeed, as Zorn notes, this is pretty obvious and not just to the punditocracy. He notes in his piece that Alan Keyes, who among other things, called Obama a “hard-line Marxists” and in favor of infanticide when campaigning against Obama for the Senate in 2024, didn’t evoke the middle name. Indeed

Pascoe [ Keyes' former campaign manager] told me [Zorn] he and former top Keyes consultant Dan Proft had steered him away with the admonishment that such a gambit would be “rude, uncivil, needlessly provocative and incendiary.”

Further, Karl Rove, who has a reputation for hardball politics, has advised Reps to not “Hussein” Obama because:

Rove said that the use of “Barack Hussein Obama” would perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted and would hurt the party.

So, it isn’t just the PC police who see what is going on here.

Here’s some video of Cunningham on Hannity and Colmes, including a clip from the rally.

If there is doubt about Cunningham’s motivation, he calls Obama a “Manchurian”/”stealth” candidate in the clip. He also continued to repeat Obama’s full name over and over, obviously to get attention to himself like a little kid who keeps saying things he knows will annoy his parents.

Along the lines of names, I would recommend Juan Cole’s essay on the subject.

Update: James Joyner comments as well, and deals with the “red meat” issue.