Tasteless introduction to Cincinnati

Rob Portman told the crowd he was glad Bill Cunningham was lending his voice to warm up a Memorial Hall crowd for Tuesday’s John McCain rally. It was definitely a sub prime loan and Portman should have known better.

McCain showed class by repudiating Cunningham’s disparaging remarks about Barack Obama. The Republican frontrunner wasn’t on the stage when Cunningham was spewing and said he didn’t hear him speak and said he had never met the man. Still, said McCain, it’s his campaign and he would take responsibility for it. “I will not tolerate anything in this campaign that denigrates either Sen. Obama or Sen. (Hillary) Clinton,’’ McCain told reporters.

Most people in Cincinnati are familiar with Cunningham’s brand of thoughtless bombast. He never debates when he can insult. But it’s an unfortunate first impression for McCain to take away from our community. It’s also unfortunate that the clip of Cunningham making snide remarks about Obama’s middle name, Hussein, and calling him a “hack” will be played over and over in the national media. It will be a great boon to the city’s reputation for civility.

What Cunningham said was stupid. What was worse was the way so many people accept it. From Portman, to many of those responding to our online discussion board, to Hamilton County Prosecutor (and local party heavyweight) Joe Deters.

“Bill does this kind of thing a lot at Republican events, and we’re used to hearing it,’’ Deters said. That’s too bad.