Repurposing Malcolm

The Financial Times Edward Luce, in the article Religion drags race to the fore about Barack Obama's problems with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, writes, "Mr Obama, meanwhile, was discovered to have borrowed passages from Spike Lee's film Malcolm X":

"They're trying to bamboozle you. It's the same old okie-doke. Y'all know about okie doke, right? ... They try to bamboozle you. Hoodwink ya. Try to hoodwink ya. Alright, I'm having too much fun here. ... "
- Barack Obama

"You've been hoodwinked. You've been had. You've been took. You've been led astray, led amok. You’ve been bamboozled." - Malcolm X

Obama's use of the Malcolm X, whether deliberate or fortuitous, demonstrates a certain hipness and facility with the language noticeably lacking in his opponents. Having said that, once right-wingers and other detractors make the connection, it will likely become fodder for anti-Obama rants.