The Ross Perot Effect

Remember when Perot addressed the NAACP as "you people" in 1992? While he probably didn't intend to sound like a bigot, his words carried the racist stink of dismissiveness and condescension. And they further sunk his doomed bid for the presidency.

And now we have John McCain. Poor, uncomfortable, meandering John McCain, whose entire debate last night was undermined by his pathological need to jab and insult and censure. His repeated "overhead projector" attempts sounded implausible and desperate. His "hair plugs" attempt was inelegant and tacky. And then he slid right to the dismissive, condescending bottom. And the Internet will never let him forget it:

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