Rep. Geoff Davis (R, KY-4): Obama a "boy"

Congratulations, Kentucky, one of the first stories to go national with the Bluegrass and 2008 presidential campaign headlined together is one of our U.S. Representatives using a racial codeword to describe Barack Obama.

At a Republican dinner, the Northern Kentucky’s Lincoln Day Dinner this past Saturday, Rep. Geoff Davis, whose district encompasses fringes of Louisville to the Cincinnati suburbs to the Kentucky-West Virginia border, raised a hypothetical scenario of a potential nuclear strike.

According to the 49-year-old Davis, the 46-year-old Barack is a "boy". The national blogs are all over this. KY's Page One has already weighed in saying, "Regardless of what Davis meant by his strange choice of words, “boy” is a racist code word."

From Politico.com:

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

An aide to Davis, Jeremy Hughes, declined to comment on the remark, and didn't dispute the accuracy of the quote."

Note: Rep. Davis (b. Oct. 1958) is just three years older than Sen. Obama (b. Aug. 1961). What a difference three years make, boy!

UPDATE:

That didn't take long.

Davis apologizes to Obama:

Congressman Geoff Davis has issued an apology for calling Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama a "boy" during a speech Saturday night in Boone County...

"I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness," Davis said. "Though we may disagree on many issues ... my comment has detracted from the dialogue we should all be having on legitimate policy differences and in no way reflects the personal and professional respect I have for you."