Target : Obama

Since beginning his run for the White House, Barack Obama has had to contend with a viral e-mail campaign that has portrayed him as unpatriotic and a foreign implant out to subvert America. At first dismissed as the work of “quacks”, the effort continued and, sadly, has had some effect. As reported by Politico, these e-mails, while absurd, have come to be believed by some.
Polling, for example, shows that between 11 per cent and 15 per cent of Americans believe Mr. Obama to be a Muslim. And there is plenty of anecdotal evidence pointing to some voters’ beliefs that he is “unpatriotic”, “not an American”, “a radical black nationalist” and a few other untruths.
The New York Times interviewed American Jews in Florida for a May 22 article and reported the following statements: “Mr. Obama is Arab”, “He is part of Chicago’s large Palestinian community”, “al Qa’eda is backing Obama”, “Mr. Obama might fill his administration with followers of Louis Farrakhan”.
The virulence of those charges and their persistent hold over a small but significant portion of the population probably explain why Mr. Obama has continued to reach out to American Jews for help in correcting the record.
Source