Regardless of it's true meaning, "tar baby" was used as a derogatory term for black children, years and years ago.
It is not a common phrase in today's conversation, nor has it been in several decades. I'm old enough to remember hearing a black child referred to as a "tar baby", but I don't think I've heard that term in the last 40 years of being an adult.
It was a very poor choice of words, particularly with the preceding sentence being that the Congress Critter said he didn't want to be associated with Obama.
His mouth moved faster than his brain...and that's all there is to it. What he did succeed in doing was give the Dems one more reason for frothing at the mouth and the opportunity to scream "racist". As if they don't find reason enough.
He's an idiot. Is that enough to kick him out of Congress? Who knows. If being an idiot was enough of a reason to kick a Congress Critter out, we could save time and just go ahead and kick them all out.
Why are these guys - regardless of political party, occupation (thinking Arnold and Tiger, here) - who are just idiots, so damn successful? Or at least they are until their idiocy spins out of control.