Senator Obama Muslim Factor

Is the Senator Obama Muslim factor hurting his chances to win the Democratic party presidential nomination?

While Barack Obama is not a Muslim (his father is) the charges are out there and just won’t go away. In a nation that supposedly believes in religious freedom Senator Obama’s religion really shouldn’t matter but it clearly does.

With the average US citizen subject to manipulation by its leaders, and with our “crusade” in the Mid East crazily running along for more than five years, in many American’s minds to be a Muslim is equated with being a terrorist or at least being a terrorist supporter. That’s a sad thing to say but I fear it is largely true.

Even though Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a “madrassa” are not accurate, according to CNN reporting there are stories going around that Obama refused to be swore in as a Senator with his right hand resting on a Bible.

That is certainly not true but is an issue that won’t go away. Senator Obama is a Christian but apparently many otherwise well informed people think otherwise.

While recently visiting my 84 year old mother she made the comment that she would not vote for a Muslim to be the President of the United States. When I said I guess not as there is no Muslim candidate running for president her reply was “well, what about Obama?” When I asked her where she had heard that bit of misinformation she replied she had received an email from a friend who was “well informed” about such matters.

With Obama losing primaries in Nevada and New Hampshire by slim margins a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand “well informed” folks spreading misinformation over the Internet about the Senator’s religious affiliation could make a different in the 2008 presidential election.

This is from the BBC ,which is following our elections closely. “Hillary Clinton won because she won women and she won Latinos. She also won because some voters think - or are persuaded to think - that Senator Obama is a Muslim. This is a fact: I met otherwise well-informed voters in New Hampshire who believed that he refused to be sworn in as a senator with his hand on the Bible. It is out there; it really is. It does not explain the Clinton victories but it adds to them.”

While the Internet has brought us all a host of benefits in staying informed, entertained, and in the loop with almost instant communication ability it has also made it very easy for people to spread the most vicious lies and plain misinformation about anyone or anything that they oppose for any reason. We should be careful of “well informed” people firing off attack emails in an election year.

If I were Senator Obama I believe that I would address the Muslim factor head on. The Muslim factor may not be as out in the open as the swift boat charges against John Kerry but in a close race it could have the same nasty effect.

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