“Surely they’d give a Medal of Honor nominee the benefit of the doubt on an ambiguous quote, AP.” Well, no, not if he’s a hawk, but they’re treading lightly on this one anyway. Thank the Teamsters, whose president found a timely analogy for the Messiah’s political prowess on a conference call this morning:

Unfortunately for the Obama team, who might’ve been able to make some hay of McCain’s intro, Teamsters prez James Hoffa mentioned [Tiger] Woods today on a call with reporters. When asked if PA voters — translation PA’s white working class voters — were concerned about Obama’s race, he said: “With regard to his race, he’s African American. I know he’s of mixed race, but, you know, he’s like a Tiger Woods. He’s just a great person that’s really excited a lot of people. We’re not detecting a lot of discussion about his religion or his race here.”

Be sure to follow the comments at the Hotline post. Exit question: Mightn’t Bellavia been referring to the actual Tiger Woods? In a speech about role models and all?