"Barack The Magic Negro" Prompts Jockeying Among RNC Hopefuls

4687725On Friday, the news broke that former Tennessee GOP leader Chip Saltsman, who ran Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, had distributed a CD to Republican National Committee members for Christmas featuring a song called "Barack the Magic Negro."

Saltsman hopes to become RNC chairman. The current chair, Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, said he was "shocked and appalled" by the decision to send the CD, which also included songs like "Love Client #9" and "Down on the Farm with Al Gore."

"Barack the Magic Negro" is a parody set to the music of "Puff The Magic Dragon" and sung by an Al Sharpton imitator; it references a Los Angeles Times column of the same name.

"Yeah the guy from the LA paper said [Obama] made guilty whites feel good," the Sharpton-imitator sings on the track, which aired on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. "They'll vote for him and not for me 'cause he's not from the hood." You can hear the whole thing here.

Saltsman has defended his decision to send the CD, releasing a statement saying that "our party leaders should...refuse to pander to [the media's] desire for scandal."

This morning, however, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, who has reportedly been mulling a run for the RNC chair, released a statement supporting candidates for the chairmanship who have taken a "firm position" on Saltsman's decision to distribute the "racially-insulting song":

"As the GOP Chairman in one of our nation's most ethnically and culturally diverse states, I am especially disappointed by the inappropriate words and actions we've seen over the past few days," he said. "I am proud of those party leaders who have stood up in firm opposition to this type of behavior."

"Actions such as the distribution of this CD, regardless of intent, only serves to promote divisiveness and distracts us from our common goal of building our party," added Greer.