Obama campaign rejects rapper Ludacris' rhymes

Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Wednesday that a new rhyme by supporter and rapper Ludacris is "outrageously offensive" to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain and President George W. Bush. The song brags about an Obama presidency being destiny. It uses an expletive to describe Clinton, calls Bush "mentally handicapped" and says McCain doesn't belong in "any chair unless he's paralyzed." The lyrics also don't spare the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist who recently apologized for making crude comments about Obama. "If you said it then you meant it," intones the rapper. Obama's campaign blasted "Politics As Usual," which is on the "Gangsta Grillz: The Preview" mixtape with Atlanta spinner DJ Drama. "As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn't want his daughters or any children exposed to," campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail statement.