It's hard to put a number on it, but I have the strong feeling that there are millions of Americans who believe that Obama is some sort of secret Muslim. I even heard a Democratic voter say that in an exit interview during the Ohio primary.

I'm sure Obama is aware of this problem, and that's part of the reason why he's seeking as much legitimacy as possible from these Christian leaders.

They may not tell their parishioners to vote for him, but at least they can reassure them that he is in fact a Christian. That's where the JFK analogy is particularly apt.

I hope it works.

I have no don't that's true. It's also amusing that members of the talking head class try to keep insinuating that he's both a "secret muslim" and a member of a "radical" christian church.

There will also people who believe such garbage, just as there are still 23% of Americans who still suffer from the delusion that Bush is a good president. Hopefully, Obama overcome smears like this.

Well if Obama's really a Muslim, how come the Muslims feel snubbed by him? Because two ladies wearing the Muslim headscarves were excluded from a picture! And why was that? Probably because of the rumor that Barak is a secret Muslim, one which I don't believe. I take the guy at his word that he's been a member of that Church of Christ for 20 years, and I don't care that he went to a "muslim" school in Indonesia for one year. Indonesia is a muslim country, what do you expect? It's a dumb rumor.

Anyone dumb enough to believe those rumors is just looking for an excuse not to vote for him.

jazz CANNOT talk issues

stupid FOOL

The signature line on your posts is a good idea.

My granny was convinced for a long time that Obama was Muslim, until my mother pointed out the flap over remarks made by his pastor. Sheesh.

dems rock:

jazz CANNOT talk issues

stupid FOOL

Yeah, and you really talked about the issues in that post, didn't you?

Why don't you just give up? I can outthink and outwrite you in my sleep.

AllThatJazz:

Anyone dumb enough to believe those rumors is just looking for an excuse not to vote for him.

Exactly. It's not that they're gullible. It's just that they're predisposed to believe that democrats really do want terrorists to destroy America.

I mean, think about it. If there was a fifth column that wanted to sneak some kind of muslim manchurian candidate into the White House, would they use someone name Barack Hussein Obama? Hell no! He'd be a white guy named Bob Smith from Tacoma who's never set foot in Indonesia. You'd have to be an idiot or completely predisposed to believe it to swallow that idea.

I think you're making it more complicated than it really is. These people aren't that subtle.

Remember we're only really talking about the swing voters here -- the people who haven't made up their minds yet. They're the ones who pretty much decide every election these days.

And they tend to base their votes on feelings rather than rational considerations (like almost everybody does, actually). If they don't feel good about Obama, they're not going to vote for him.What could make them feel better than seeing him shake hands with every Christian hotshot in the country?

Which means it's a pretty brilliant strategy. So maybe he actually does have what it takes to be president...

Shaking hands with prominant Christians might help, but so long as the Flush Dimbulbs of the radio set continue to insinuate that he's a "secret muslim", there will be people in places like Appalachia that will buy into it.

Just like there are people in this country who think Budweiser is a good beer.

I'd rather have a Bud than a friggin Heineken. I always thought it was supposed to be beer ==> piss, not piss ==> beer.

Not a fan of Heineken either.

I never understood why people drink any of that cheap, mass produced clysdale piss when America has hundreds of really great microbrews the still use barley instead of rice to make real beer.