Here at wOw, we wanted to poll our Contributors about the photo ofBarack Obama in tribal dress that seems to be everywhere in the mediathis week. Was it leaked? What did they think of it? And did it swaytheir opinion of the candidate in any way? To take a look at whatSheila Nevins, Judith Martin, Candice Bergen, Joan Juliet Buck, JuliaReed, Liz Smith, Jane Wagner and Joan Ganz Cooney thought, read on….and talk to us!

SHEILA: The only thing about Barack Obama in that dress is thathe is a size smaller than I am. I am not sure I want a president Itower over. Other than that, I thought he looked cute. I believe thisis a silly question.

JULIA: I first heard of the photo of Obama in Somali tribal dressvia a strange email on Monday afternoon from Hillary Clinton’s campaigndenying — sort of — her direct involvement in it and another from theInterfaith Alliance denouncing the Clinton campaign for having anythingto do with it. (When you cover politics, even occasionally, you are oneverybody’s email list.) Naturally, I immediately went to Drudge toview the photo. There is no question of what harm whoever circulatedthe photo meant to inflict. It is completely disingenuous for Clintonto say Obama should get over it — "why are we even talking aboutthis?" — on the grounds that she herself has been photographed in allmanner of tribal dress and everybody looks silly doing it. We are"talking about this" because she is not a black man who has beenrepeatedly accused of being a Muslim (Somalis are mostly Muslim), inmany cases by members of Hillary’s own staff. The release of that photo wasclearly meant to stir up racist sentiments and terrorist fears. BillClinton himself heavy handedly, grotesquely even, tried to stir upracial tensions before, during, and directly after the South Carolinaprimary. So far, in the email I got from the the Clinton campaign, andfrom the candidate’s own public statements, all I hear is a non-denialdenial. I have no idea if her campaign circulated the photo or not. Butthey are not above it as we know all too well from their past actions.Either way, it is adding to the Hillary implosion pile. A friend ofmine called today and said, "Instead of subjecting us all to herappearances in the debates, she should go one Dr. Phil because she isclearly coming completely apart before our eyes." And he used to be afan.

JUDITH: I saw it in the papers with a sinking heart — not forany political reason, but only because I can’t face an onslaught ofcompeting pictures of politicians looking silly in strange outfits. Onecould dig up pictures of all of them in various hats they shouldn’t bewearing, whether foreign, regional, religious, professional, or justplain comical. If I were a political adviser, my first rule would be:If you must accept clothing from strangers, at least don’t put it on.

CANDICE: Saw Barack on GMA and thought he looked fine in tribaldress. Then once again, I thought how very glad I was that I was not acandidate — otherwise that picture of me in Arab drag with my (Jewish)hubby at a little photo shop in Petra, Jordan would be slitheringaround the blogosphere on a Terrorist Trapper site.

JANE: I saw the picture on-line and then again during the recent Ohiodebate. It made me smile and wince at the same time because Baracklooks a little foolish; yet, he’s stoic and respectful. Like alldignitaries who travel to other cultures — when in Rome. It made melike him more…seeing him as more human, vulnerable, good natured. Thereare other tribal costumes that might have created a more regal, elegantand arresting appearance; unfortunately, this is not one of them. Whywasn’t the other fellow wearing a pinafore? I think he’s the one wholeaked this picture.

LIZ: I caught it on the "Drudge Report," of course. It didn’tmake me like him more or less. It was just there, like a fact. I gotthe implication, of course, that it was meant to harm him and make someMuslim connection so I disapprove of the act of it being released insuch a way. Anonymous info is always cowardly and usually harmful.

I do believe Senator Clinton when she said that she didn’t authorize it or would dosuch a naughty bad thing. She has hundreds of people working for herwho could have done it without authorization. If Mr. Obama gets thenomination, much more of this sort of thing will probably be done tothe detriment of people of good will everywhere.

JOAN BUCK: The picture of Barack Obama in tribal dress confirmed two important things to me:

1. The long process of campaigning is a sort of terrible hazing wherecandidates are forced to eat drippy pizza, and dress up as locals or asmembers of the Armed Forces, so they can be subjected to ridicule andhumiliation. The real problem is when they persist in dressing up asmembers of the Armed Forces once they are in office.

2. As all campaigns are image wars, they are played out on a symboliclevel. Obama’s first name sounds like a place where soldiers sleep, hismiddle name is the name of the man our present government deposed andhung, and his last name is one consonant away from the name of ourmortal enemy. He’s got a lot of symbolic baggage to fight against.Hillary Rodham Clinton has equally heavy baggage: a first name thatevokes something steep and arduous, a middle name that sounds likesomething schoolmasters use to beat small boys, and a last name thatalarms people because it reminds them of a presidency when we weren’tat war and the economy prospered. The fact that her last name has nothelped the sharp, unforgiving message of her first two names tells methat Obama won’t have any name problem.

Did it make me like Obama more or less? It made me want to tell him:look at the queen of England. She watches the guys dance around innative dress, but she doesn’t don the robes or apply her lips to adidgeridoo. Who do I think leaked it? Frankly, my dear, I don’t give adamn.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: I saw the picture of Obama in tribal dress in thenewspaper. I knew immediately that someone who doesn’t wish him wellhad gotten it published because it was unflattering as all the picturesof politicians in native dress always are. Also it suggested somethingunChristian. Muslim anyone? I have no idea whether the Clinton campaigndid it or someone else who wants to hurt Obama. There are many Clintonsupporters who would do it in a minute without consulting her officialcampaign. So who knows?

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