Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Marc,

Did you see it? Did you see Barack brush his shoulders off?

Like every other hip-hop generation voter in America I went crazy when he did it. I almost couldn’t believe it. It was a perfect moment.

Barack’s key constituencies are tough because they are his most important assets and his most visible liabilities: African Americans and young people. Within Barack’s diverse coalition black folks, city dwellers and young voters are his steadfast allies, but his opponents consistently use race and age to label him unqualified and inexperienced.

Barack needs to keep his black, urban and young voters while adding laborers,suburbanites, seniors and rural folks into a winning coalition. Great campaigners know how to talk to multiple audiences at once. They send solidarity signals to some while allowing others to remain blissfully unaware.

W. is a master of this “dog-whistle” politics. Especially in his first term, Bush sent piercing rhetorical signals to evangelicals that the rest of the audience was completely incapable of hearing because they don’t get the reference. Think “wonder-working power” during his State of The Union address and “Dred Scott” references during his abortion answers in a debate with Kerry. These are crystal clear signals to some but mean nothing to others.

Marc, last week you said Obama would have to be more like Bush. Well, Barack gave us the dog-whistle remix this week and it was hot.

Barack is much more earnest than Bush. His coalition strategy has been explicit. Obama articulates the reasons we have shared interests and encourages us to see past difference. This is why many of us Barackers are so excited about his candidacy.

But political campaigning is not only about earnest argument. It is also about strategy. When Obama brushed his shoulders off he took the secret handshake platinum.

He displayed all the familiar self-assurance and bravado of the hip-hop emcee. The people who got-it went nuts, while those who don’t know hip-hop just thought he was being funny and confident. This moment hit YouTube and went viral in a matter of hours. It was a signal of solidarity with his base of young, urban, black and brown voters. We loved it.

Marc, if Barack is listening to Jay-Z what do you think are his favorite cuts these days? 99 Problems maybe?

Marc Lamont Hill

“If you feelin’ like a pimp, nigga go and brush ya shoulders off” – Jay-Z

You better watch out or Barack will have to add Jigga to the list of people that he has to denounce in the next debate!

But seriously, Melissa, I think you’re stretching here. My best guess says that the candidate formerly known as Barry doesn’t know Jay-Z from Jay Leno. If he does, he would know that, in order to satisfy the conditions for shoulder brushing, one must be “feelin’ like a pimp.”

Hmmmm. Maybe you’re on to something after all.

For the past year, Barack has been pimping the hopes and aspirations of people around this nation. If he’s been using “dog whistle” politics, it has been to signal to mainstream (read: white) America that he’s not “too black” or “too radical.” Why? Because he knows that black people will vote for him anyway. Indeed, it is this desperation for a black face in a high place that allows us to interpret all of his activities as Negro smoke signals.

Last weekend, I almost spit out my Snapple listening to a group of brothers in the barbershop overinterpret Barack’s every move. “Did you see how he clinched his fist when he said he supports free trade? That was a secret Black Panther sign!” “Remember when he said he supports No Child Left Behind? He meant that no child would be left behind when we go back to Africa!” While “Shouldergate” is a much more plausible circumstance, I’m just not buying that it’s for us. If anything, he was telling white people that he has us all in check.

And yes, that was a secret shout out to Busta Rhymes!