I've mentioned in the past my disapproval of the tendency of some Republicans to emphasize the middle name of Democratic presidental contender Barack Hussein Obama. Like most presidential candidates, Obama does not go by all three names and few of them ever referred to Bill Clinton by William Jefferson Clinton. So I'm left to believe that some Republicans, conservatives, and Obama-haters have decided that it's supposed to be revealing to note that his middle name is what it is.

I would say that it reveals one of the more negative aspects of the Republican Party, but then I see Democrats doing something quite similar in my wife's home state.

Bobby Jindal, most likely the next governor of Louisiana, has run into a potential stumbling block:

WASHINGTON -- Mention the name "Bobby" in Louisiana political circles these days and most everyone will assume you are talking about Bobby Jindal, the popular second-term congressman now running at the top of the polls for governor.

But some Democrats would like to remind voters that Bobby Jindal has another name: Piyush.

In news releases, interviews and small talk, they frequently refer to Jindal by his Indian, given first name. Last week, "Piyush" popped out of the mouth of former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., who briefly considered running for governor.

Democrats say it's a way of throwing back the curtain on what they say is a "manufactured candidate" who has carefully crafted a public image that doesn't measure up to reality.

Jindal brushes it off as a "silly schoolyard tactic." Others, however, say it is a blatantly racist appeal that seeks to score political points by stoking biases many had hoped were on the wane in the Deep South.

"It's making fun of someone's name with a veiled reference to race," pollster Bernie Pinsonat said. "Republicans have played games with this. It's the first time I've ever seen Democrats resort to it."

Many believe that Jindal's heritage cost him the election in 2003. As the Fred Barnes outlined, a surprising number of generally Republican rural voters that went for David Duke several years back inexplicably crossed party lines to vote for Blanco in that contest. As went the Bubba vote, so goes the election.

So is that what they're trying to do here? Well, either they are or they are unfamiliar with how common it is for Americans of non-European heritage to often take on an "American" name. This is particular true of Indian Americans, and interestingly enough both of the examples that come to mind have taken to being called "Bob". I asked one of them about it recently and he said that there wasn't any tradition about using that name in particular, though. In any case, if you have a difficult to pronounce or foreign-sounding name, it makes a lot of sense going with something similar so that it doesn't become a sticking point when meeting people.

But, just as with emphasizing Obama's middle name, calling him Piyush is just slick enough that they can't be tacked outright racists.

Fortunately, whatever it is precisely that they're trying to do, it's unlikely to work.