Barrack Obama's campaign is accusing Hillary Clinton's team of circulating a photo that depicts Obama wearing Muslim clothing as part of a goodwill gesture during an overseas trip. The picture appeared on the cover of the Drudge Report (a website with links to news sources and columnists) and was attributed to sources within the Clinton campaign (though no specific names were mentioned).
The Clinton campaign did not issue a denial, but rather a statement which called the Obama team's accusation "an obvious and transparent attempt to distract" voters. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson asserted that he had not been aware of the photo's release, nor was the photo sanctioned by the campaign. However, he did admit that "We have over 700 people on this campaign and I'm not in a position to know what each one of them may or may not have done."
Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said of Senator Clinton, "This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it's exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world."
Emails falsely claiming that Obama is a Muslim had previously been circulated by some Clinton campaign volunteers in Iowa and New Hampshire. The aforementioned volunteers later left her campaign in early 2008.
Obama has strived to overcome the rumor that he is a Muslim, since many Americans feel uneasy about electing a president who is not a member of a more traditional religion (remember the intense focus on the fact that Mitt Romney is Mormon?). Indeed, every president except for John F. Kennedy (a Catholic) has been a Protestant.
It is important to keep in mind that last week, it was Hillary Clinton's campaign pointing fingers at the Obama team, whom they accused of circulating mailings that spread "lies" about her positions on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement. View the article here.
Do you think that both sides have blame to share, or is one candidate's offense worse than the other?
Do you think either Obama's or Clinton's campaign will be affected by this?
How do you feel about the fact that our country has had only one non-Protestant president?
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3 comments:
I think that the fact that the US has only had one non-Protestant president is awful because other religions have not been fairly represented in the Oval office. However, I think that, while both camps should be blamed for spreading rumors, the rumor surrounding Obama's religion is especially harsh because of the nations history and current situations with other predominantly Muslim nations. Also, I know that many voters that are pro-Israel are extremely concerned that Obama may be Muslim, which makes this rumor even more of a strike.
Sure, Clinton's campaign posted a picture of Obama he'd rather not have public, but perhaps he's overreacting. Maybe he'll lose some of the pro-Israel voters Emma talked about, but he might just gain voters who like leaders that respect other people's customs. Also, I think most people have already decided on a candidate by now, so the photo isn't going to affect either side much.
I think at this point no one cares because it's pretty much given that Obama will win unless Clinton forces him to debate again and again.
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