NOTE: This blog post is cross-posted from my newer blog at www.bradlevinson.com.

Big surprise here: I am not a fan of Fox News. But like my mom says, sometimes it’s just weirdly fun to watch the channel, just to hear how that channel frames the debate and to see what propaganda techniques they use.

Today? Not so fun. Fox was reporting on something that’s becoming fairly apparent: Michelle Obama is going to be a big target of the GOP during this election.

Here’s what they put up on the screen during the segment (it’s pretty unbelievable):

That’s right. “Baby Mama.” This is a woman who went to Princeton for her undergrad degree and to Harvard for her law degree — and is currently on leave as the Vice President for Community and External Affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals. That’s a position that Michelle Malkin, who was on air during the segment, will likely never hold.

But let’s deny her all of those accomplishments and call her a “baby mama,” because that’s all she’s done, right?

Was “baby mama” just too irresistible because it rhymes with “Obama”? I like puns and rhymes, too, but this one’s not amusing. It’s inappropriate and completely racist. I won’t even say it has racist connotations. It’s just plain racist. Has the phrase “baby mama” ever been used against a prospective First Lady before? Nancy Reagan, perhaps? Not likely.

It’s not like this even works strategically for Fox News or for the GOP. From CNN:

“Considering there are so many issues — legitimate issues — that you can use on Barack Obama, to attack his wife to me is sheer utter stupidy of the highest level,” Stephen Marks, a Republican strategist, said. “Mr. Obama is going to come to his wife’s defense and it’s going to humanize both of them.”

I’ll expand on this: if McCain wants to attract the Hillary voting bloc, this certainly isn’t the way to do it.