That One…?

I’m always excited to see a backlash against John McCain, but this minor fraças is one that I cannot join in on. McCain’s reference to Barack Obama as “that one” has been taken by some as racist, others as condescending, and still more as just… mean. I cannot agree with either. Perhaps this flows from my low expectations of McCain’s campaign, given the background racism against which this alleged “gaffe” occurred, rather than any abiding respect for the man, but the Pronoun Heard ‘Round the World just does not seem that out of step with normal campaign discourse.