Running From The Down Low

by digby

Steve Benen brings up a little blogospheric brouhaha that I guess I ought to address, since I wrote about it last night, but actually gave Obama props for doing what others are criticizing him for today.

Benen writes:

I have to admit, I'm puzzled by the reaction in some corners to what seemed like one of the more amusing and lighthearted moments of last night's debate.

NPR's Michel Martin asked the candidates, "[W]hat is the plan to stop and to protect these young people from this scourge?" When it was Joe Biden's turn, the senator suggested the key to combating AIDS is prevention: "I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS. It's an important thing."

The audience laughed nervously. When Biden was done with his answers, Obama, smiling, interjected.

OBAMA: Tavis, Tavis, Tavis, I just got to make clear -- I got tested with Michelle. (Laughter, applause.)

SMILEY: Ah.

OBAMA: In -- when we were in Kenya in Africa. So I don't want any confusion here about what's going on. (Applause continues.)

SMILEY: All right.

BIDEN: And I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion.

OBAMA: I was tested with my wife.

SMILEY: And I'm sure Michelle appreciates you clarifying it.

OBAMA: In public. (Laughter.)


It honestly didn't occur to me that he was making a big point that he wasn't gay. I thought he was making a big point that he was faithful to his wife. I even thought it may have been a little jab at Hillary --- or at the very least was a continuation of the Obamas' little "Honeymooner's" sit-com routine. (She's always talking about him being a slob and how she has to pick up his socks etc.)

I usually have fairly good radar for such things, but the context of this remark may have blocked it. I don't think I expect a black, Democratic candidate for president to make a bigoted remark in a presidential debate so I didn't see it. Looking at it now, I can certainly understand why people would assume he was going out of his way to say he wasn't gay, however. It's a perfectly logical assumption.

I do wonder how most people took it, however. If they took it the way I did, as a sort of "henpecked husband" sit-com routine where he wanted to explain that he was faithful to his wife, then maybe that's a sign of progress. I'm pretty sure I would have assumed immediately that it was homophobic a few years ago when any mention of AIDS was almost automatically associated with homosexuality in our minds. Today, that just isn't the case, at least not in my mind.

On the other hand, I confess that I'm a little bit surprised that I wasn't more sensitive to how it would be taken by gay people or why I wasn't the least bit suspicious of what he actually meant. You just never know when you're going to find out that you've become complacent. It's always a bit of a shock.

I'd be interested in what you think about this. It's an intriguing issue.


Update: Haha. It seems that one of the other likely interpretations I missed is that he wanted to make sure nobody thought he was having an affair with Joe Biden, which is perfectly understandable from members of either sex.

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