Blogger Josh Marshall was in New Hampshire at a Kerry rally when he overheard some choice racial epithets (served with a dash of Southern folksiness, of course) from Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, the octogenarian Democrat and former presidential candidate:

When Hollings was getting underway on the jobs theme he said that half of the furniture in the United States (or some such stat) was now made in China. At just that moment a startling, crashing pop! came out of one of the loudspeakers. Not missing a beat, Hollings said that there must be some “chinamen” over there who didn’t like that.

A few minutes later he was talking about “ole Suskind’s book” and how, as reported in Ron Suskind’s book about Paul O’Neil, the president had blanched at the idea of giving yet another tax cut to the rich, only to have Dick Cheney pipe in to steady his course.

In Hollings’ retelling …

“‘Haven’t we already given the rich a tax cut?’ the president said. And then ole’ Cheney said, ‘No, we want more.’ He’s the Jesse Jackson of the Republican Party! He wants it all!’”

The Jesse Jackson of the Republican party?

You’d have to say that’s a bit off message for the contemporary Democratic party. But you could see the collective will of the audience for a moment awkwardly, and then decisively, opting to give the old guy a pass.

A while later when Kerry was giving his talk, and the speaker barked up again, he brought things back to the 21st century. “It’s that Chinese guy again …”

Well, you have to give the good old boy some credit: at least he didn’t use the n-word. Progressives have been progressing. Maybe someday — if we all keep our fingers crossed — there might even be such a thing as political correctness. Wouldn’t that be something?

Since we’re on the topic of speaking from the gut, check out this delightful conversation with President Bush, who is truly a man who needs to have his ribs.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen