...Obama was talking about how Hillary Clinton seemed "in her element" during the first half of Wednesday night's debate, during which the discussion was devoid of issue discussions and instead focused on tough questions to Obama about his patriotism and his associations w/ Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers.
"They like stirring up controversy. They like playing gotcha games, and getting us to attack each other," he said. "And I have to say Sen. Clinton looked in her element. She's..."
At this point, Obama took a long pause and raised his right hand to scratch his face, leading with his middle finger. Some in the audience laughed and applauded, apparently thinking he was directing a raised-middle-finger toward Clinton.
An Obama camp source notes that he scratched his face with another finger earlier in the speech when not referencing Clinton.
"He actually..i know this is shocking ..scratches his nose all the time," the source said in an e-mail to RAW STORY.
The Los Angeles Times describes the incident as follows:
He doesn't use his whole hand though. Just one finger. Briefly. A couple of strokes. He pauses. He smiles slyly as the crowd begins to mumble and then he tries, somewhat distracted, to continue his remarks, smiling as the buzz spreads through the crowd. He'll no doubt deny it later, but that mischievous smile seems to confirm plenty. And the crowd sure sees something.
The Chicago Tribune's blog headlined its post "Obama fingers a 'gotcha' debate," but the paper's Mark Silva also wrote around the precise impact of the event. He said "viewers need to pay some attention to ... the finger with which he scratched" his face.
Throughout the evening, several different versions of the video tape emerged. Earlier in his speech, Obama absent-mindedly scratched his face with his pinky finger, suggesting the second gesture may have been similarly absent minded with no nefarious aims. One could count on some of the most virulent pro-Clinton voices in the blogosphere to fill in the gaps.
"SusanUnPC" writes at NoQuarter:
Further — as you’ll see below in a short clip, just below this longer video — he flipped off Hillary in a “street” sort of way. But it is undeniable — I have asked several people to confirm — that he indeed did give Hillary the finger, and it’s clear from the audience reaction that he did so.
Stuart O'Neill at The Democratic Daily calls Obama an "ass" and says the gesture was "classless" and "deliberate." Corrente accuses Obama of "frat boy antics."
