“It’s hard out here for a pimp,” U.S. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton might be thinking about now. As her poll numbers plummet and her electoral chances begin to evaporate, she’s been left to play the part of an emotional wrangler. First by crying, and then by complaining about the treatment of her daughter on the campaign trail.

Last week the Clinton campaign had a collective conniption fit as fill-in MSNBC commentator David Shuster wondered aloud about how Chelsea Clinton was being pressed into service to appeal to “superdelegates” to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Was the nearly 28-year-old Chelsea, he mused, “sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way” by her mother?

Fur flew. Shuster was suspended, then formally apologized on the air. Amateur linguists wondered en masse whether or not “pimp” was actually a pejorative term anymore. (Actual linguists insisted that it was.)

But let’s go backward to April 2007, when rapper Timbaland held a benefit for Senator Clinton’s campaign and raised a reported $800,000 for her. Timbaland’s lyrics feature a whole lotta pimpin’, and the coarseness of his language didn’t seem to bother Hillary when it wasn’t being directed at her daughter.

Message: Demean inner-city black women all you want as long as you don’t bring it into my house. (I can hear Captain Renault from Casablanca remarking: “I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”)

Here’s a sampling of Timbaland’s lyrics, apparently suitable for the Clinton campaign:

From “Considerate Brotha”:

I maim hoes for makin’ me cum, then make her buy me some rum
I got the town ho-infested, you seen ‘em
Invested in prostitution, turned it into an institution …

Admire the merchandise, talk back get slapped twice
or handheld, I got women sendin’ me panties in my fan mail
Pimp hat with a big mouth, ATL, dirt South
Hoes comin up short? Hoes finna get cursed out! …

From Raggedy Ann & Andy to daiquiri drinks and brandy
I take ‘em off the streets and put ‘em back on with a lil’ candy
I’m the - pimp of the year, I’m a pimp all around
A pimp of the town - we pimpin ‘em up, HOES DOWN

From “Kill Yourself”:

If U Close To Me, U Supposed To Be,
But Most Of U Rap Niggas Is Hoes To Me,
Wherever U From, The Question I Ask,
Is Do U Think I Give A F***, Riddle Me That …

Go Getcha Gun, Go Getcha Click,
Imma Be Rite Here Chillin’ Wit Yo B*tch,
U Mad At Me? ‘Cuz I’m Gettin’ Rich,
Well Put The Pistol To Ur Head And Empty The Clip, Pop Nigga!

And my personal favorite, from “Who Am I”:

Scoop a shawty an she thick
And tha b*tch gets grip in them hips
Putta d**k on tha lips top it doggie style, she my homie gal
So I tricked on that b*tch
Now who you be?
The one who’s on tha dance floor
Sex gon be one of tha mass hoes
Freak on a bad hoe
You’s could really wanna flash gold
Turn a hater to a sass hoe

It’s official. David Shuster singlehandedly coarsened the U.S. presidential season and unfairly injected the crudest misogyny into the Clinton campaign. Right.