Barack Obama and the Muslim misinformation
As Barack Obama Fights the Smears, on this one he’s learning he’s got to do an even better job of how he fights it.
Last night the News and Notes Reporters Round Table discussed the Monday incident where campaign workers barred two Muslim women from sitting behind the podium at a Detroit rally to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in media images.
The campaign apologized, but CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield and the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans see potential problems:
Mr. DEGGANS: I think they’re going to have to develop a more nuanced way of dealing with these issues, otherwise it’s going to backfire. The other thing that’s going on here is that Muslims, frankly, are concerned because Barack Obama doesn’t attack the central issue at the heart of a lot of these issues which is, that what’s wrong with being Muslim?
Ms. WHITEFIELD: Right.
Mr. DEGGANS: He gets out there and he says, I’m not a Muslim and sort of seeds the idea that if he were a Muslim there would be a problem. And so I think he’s going to have to be careful again about, sort of, going along with the underlying notion of some of these things which is that being associated with Muslims is something that’s bad.
Ms. WHITEFIELD: Right. If I can just underscore on that, that, you know, that’s a really great point because, you know, in part what we’re seeing, we’re seeing that the word Muslim is being used like it’s a dirty word. Like oh no, you know if he had any affiliation with the Muslim faith way back when or even now, it’s a terrible thing and that Americans should shut down. And I think he has responsibilities, just as this campaign does, to come out and say something or address this issue.
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The points made are all valid.
Let's look at he sitaution, thoug:h. A candidate already with a clear disadvantage because of race, has to
1. reasure intolerant Christians
2, reassure a very powerful Jewish voting bloc
3. demonstrate recognition of Muslim rights and equal worth
4. appeal to whites, regardless of their prejudices
5. appeal to blacks, so they don't feel abandoned
.In the meantime, McCain is home free, totally unencumbered by expectations or demands regarding his own answerability to all these groups at once. He can pick and choose; Please some, and ignore others. I'm sure his ratings would even improve in some quarters if he disparaged Muslims, for example.
Something got lost here between FAIR and BALANCED.
And no one even noticed.
The only thing lost on FAIR and BALANCED is your opinion of the Messiah.
Number 4 barely matters for him while McCain would have to move mountains in order to make any in roads with them. McCain also has the delicate balance of trying to pick up Latino voters while not pissing off the xenophobes. The Jewish lobby is a wash since both McCain and Obama have to fight to get that group. McCain also has the to deal with the people who think his age is a problem.
Seems like both sides have their problems to deal with.
“The only thing lost on FAIR and BALANCED is your opinion of the Messiah.”
Since I dont' have a Messiah, I can't relate to your observation. Applying cheap labels, though, generally dheapens the disucssion.
As for the Jewish vote, you seem to forget McCain's great friend Lieberman, and his ties .
I was speaking in more general terms, though, Since the Democrats are an umbrella for many factions competing for attention, their campaigns are always more broadly based and more difficult to bring together.
It's particularly difficult for Obama because his mixed-race and exotic background and name cause distrust (and exploitation to denigrate).
I can't really cheapen discussions from someone who has no creditability or objectivity on the subject of balance.
Lieberman isn't exactly liked in Democratic circles or even the Jewish lobby as much anymore.
The point is that Obama should tell people he isn't Muslim but at the sametime he could take this opportunity to defend Muslim Americans.