Over at Media Matters they have the transcript of Karl Rove's visit with Fox News Sunday this week:
WALLACE: We're running out of time, I want to hit a couple of last final points quickly. A speaker at a McCain rally this week talked about, repeatedly, "Barack Hussein Obama." The Tennessee Republican Party talks about support for Obama from anti-Semites and anti-Israel people. I know McCain has denounced this; you're shaking your head. But if you don't have your fingerprints on it, is this kind of talk out in the bloodstream of the American politics helpful?
ROVE: Look, the Hussein -- using his middle name helps Obama, it doesn't hurt him. So anybody who wants to help John McCain ought to stop using --
WALLACE: Explain that.
ROVE: Well, because I think people look at it and say, "Hey, look, that's one step too far. You're trying to leave an implication that he is a Muslim when I know he's not." And I think it -- you know, a lot of times attacks in politics fail -- in fact, they turn into a negative for the person who's doing the attacking because people think it's gone too far. And this, frankly, goes too far. Now, having ties to Louis Farrakhan and his anti-Semitic comments, that's -- that's -- you know, people have a reason -- that's a reasonable question: Do you agree with him? Do you renounce him? Do you reject him? But this idea of getting up there and using the guy's middle name in order to imply something about him is -- it goes too far.
Let me give you the shorter version:
People shouldn't be calling him Barack Hussein Obama, because using that name, Hussein, is just wrong. No one should be repeating Barack Hussein Obama when they refer to him. I know his name is Barack Hussein Obama but we shouldn't be using it. The name Barack Hussein Obama I mean, because when you use Barack Hussein Obama its bad for us and good for Barack Hussein Obama. Oops sorry, I didn't mean to say Barack Hussein Obama, that slipped out. So, are we clear? No-one should be saying Barack Hussein Obama. Got it.
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