You'd think McCain would remember the huge brouhaha after Press Secretary Tony Snow used the phrase. Of Course, Snow completely acquitted himself of any racist charges when he defended himelf so well with this non-apology:
"Well, apparently, what’s happened is, apparently some people are unfamiliar with the pathways of American culture, and don’t realize the old Uncle Remus story where somebody hugs a tar baby. …
I’ve decided, though, because it’s a classic case of, I think, somebody trying to sort of pick a fight. I’ll probably take that out of my toolchest of rhetorical devices, rather than having to explain a hundred and fifty years of American culture."
It's not me, it's you