User:Johnpseudo/temppage
Whisper campaigns and false rumors[edit]
A whisper campaign alleging that Obama is a Muslim has been circulating, primarily via the Internet and especially through e-mail messages, since Obama appeared on the national political stage in 2004.[1] The rumor that Obama had attended a radical Muslim madrassa appeared in the mainstream media in January, 2007 on Fox News before being debunked by CNN in a story showing that Obama had attended a public school for people of all faiths.[2] Since then, the rumor has persisted, appearing on the CBS Evening News and the nationally-syndicated talk show The Savage Nation, as well as being spread by e-mail and flyers to voters in Iowa and South Carolina.[3][4]
Obama's campaign organization has responded to the rumors
This rumor was picked up by Fox News, but denied by both Clinton and Obama.[5] CNN sent a reporter to visit the school Obama had attended as a child and reported that it was (at the time of the CNN visit) a public school for people of all faiths.[6]
The debunked allegations were repeated in June by right-wing radio commentator Michael Savage, who said on his nationally-syndicated talk show, The Savage Nation, that Obama was "indoctrinated" by a "Muslim madrassa in Indonesia."[7]
In November 2007, The New York Times reported that voters in Iowa were receiving e-mail messages claiming that Obama was a secret Muslim and anti-American. His campaign organization responded with a letter signed by three Iowa ministers, a nun and a church elder, which said:
- "Senator Obama is a committed Christian who found Christ long before entering politics and has been outspoken about his faith ever since."
The Times quoted Obama as saying to supporters:
- “You have e-mails saying that I’m a Muslim plant that’s trying to take over America. If you get this e-mail from someone you know, set the record straight.”[8]
In the same month, the New York Post reported that flyers calling Obama a "Muslim extremist" were being put on cars in South Carolina and that other slanders and rumors were being spread about other candidates, both Republican and Democratic. [9] That month, the Washington Post also reported that negative rumors and allegations about Obama were still being spread on the Internet and quoted Obama strategist David Axelrod:
- "He understands that there are scurrilous attack e-mails going on underground that distort his religious affiliation and worse, but his judgment is that he trusts the American people more than that,"[10][11]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
smearwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "CNN debunks false report about Obama". CNN. 2007-01-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Zeleny, Jeff (2007-11-10). "Obama Fights Foes, Seen or Otherwise". The New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Reid, Tim (2007-11-23). "Palmetto Bugs: Slingers of Slime Step it up in SC". The New York Post.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ohrstrom, Lysandra (2007-10-25). "Top 10 Craziest Rumors about the 2008 Candidates". The Huffington Post.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "CNN debunks false report about Obama". CNN. 2007-01-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Walzer, A.J. (2007-06-26). "Savage repeated debunked falsehood that Obama attended madrassa". Media Matters for America.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Zeleny, Jeff (2007-11-10). "Obama Fights Foes, Seen or Otherwise". The New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Reid, Tim (2007-11-23). "Palmetto Bugs: Slingers of Slime Step it up in SC". The New York Post.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802757.html?hpid=topnews
- ^ WPost Buys into Anti-Obama Bigotry