Republican Congressman Calls Obama 'boy'

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Geoff Davis apologized today to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama for calling him a "boy" during a GOP gathering Saturday in Boone County.

At the gathering, Davis, 49, who is running for re-election, questioned whether the 46-year-old African-American senator from Illinois had the experience and national security background to handle a crisis.

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis told those gathered at the Fourth District Lincoln/Reagan Day Dinner in Boone County.

Today, Davis wrote a letter to Obama, apologizing for his "poor choice of words" that he said were "in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity."

"I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness," Davis wrote. "My comment has detracted from the dialogue we should all be having on legitimate policy differences and in no way reflects the personal and professional respect I have for you."

In a statement, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton derided Davis: "It's hard to tell what is more outrageous — Representative Davis' condescending and personal attack, or his absurd and offensive claim that Barack Obama is not prepared to defend America.

"Geoff Davis may hide behind offensive tough talk, but he has marched in lock-step with Bush-McCain policies that have devastated our national security while Barack Obama has stood up against a misguided war in Iraq and worked with respected Republicans like Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel to secure loose weapons and nuclear materials from terrorists," he said.

State Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, the only African American in Northern Kentucky's legislative caucus, said Davis' comment offended him.

"I'm somewhat shocked, knowing Congressman Davis, that he would use that phrase realizing the sensitivity historically of the term and to defame Sen. Obama, who is — like himself — an individual who has given so much for our country," Simpson told the Kentucky Enquirer. "It's very offensive using it in the vein he used it in." [MORE]