Barack Obama and the Muslim misinformation

June 21st, 2008
By JOE WINDISH, Technology Editor

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.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Muslims, Barack Obama, 2008 Elections, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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