Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
More of those average American voters. Like this former Clinton supporter:
The poll responses also show Obama has more work to do to quell fears among voters like Kirstie Hartle of Rome, N.Y., a registered Democrat who has never supported a Republican presidential candidate. With Clinton out of the race, Hartle said, "I'm Republican all the way now."..."It sounds to me like a Middle Eastern type of name and whether or not he's born here in the United States, he doesn't seem like, to me, somebody who is trustworthy," Hartle said in a telephone interview. "You can't trust anybody these days, so who's to say he's not a terrorist and we just don't realize it yet?"
And she's not alone:
When asked an open-ended question about the first words that come to mind about Obama, some former Clinton supporters used words like Muslim or terrorist. Those misconceptions have been fueled by Internet rumors that point out his name is Barack Hussein Obama but otherwise lie about his background."I refuse to vote for an Arab to be in my White House," said retired salesman Dean Johnson of Lanett, Ala. "That is the only factor. Otherwise, you couldn't break both my legs and make me vote for a Republican."
These are your fellow citizens, folks. And they vote. Yes, that should frighten you.
Politics
Comments
If you want delusional Hillary supporters that frighten you - you should check out http://www.hillaryis44.org/. That's where they all hang out.
Posted by: yoshi | June 29, 2008 9:37 AM
The same logic applies to Clinton, McCain, you, me and everyone else in the world. I guess racism isn't quite as dead as I'd hoped.
Posted by: ShadowWalkyr | June 29, 2008 10:00 AM
Not only do they vote, but they reproduce.
And "...who's to say he's not a terrorist and we just don't realize it yet?"
Maybe folks who have at least two brain cells to rub together?
Just a hunch on that.
Posted by: BobbyEarle | June 29, 2008 10:06 AM
My partner has been in the US for nearly 20 years. She's earned an MA in anthropology and is currently closing in on a PhD. She has recently volunteered to work on a committee that will be advising the city council of Worcester, MA on women's health issues impacting our sizable community of West African immigrants, the goal of which is to reduce the rate of infant mortality in that community. She has also devoted years of her life to stopping the mutilation of women in Africa and the Middle East in the form of genital cutting. She doesn't get paid for any of this; she does it because she cares about people.
After the 2001 terrorist attack, she wouldn't leave the house for a week because she also happens to be Arab. She grew up in Lebanon during the Civil War which is why she immigrated to the US. She just got her citizenship this month; she was too worried about it being denied or even having her green card revoked because of anti-Arab hostility to do it sooner.
People like the ones mentioned in this article utterly disgust me on a very personal level. I'm nothing like a rabid Obama supporter myself, though I intend to vote for him simply because he isn't McCain. Reading comments like those above, though, make me angry at the people in this country. That there are people who look at my partner and see a member of Al Qaeda, that they see a threat not because of anything she's ever done but because they're simply screamingly ignorant morons, literally raises the taste of bile on my mouth.
So Kirstie Hartle of Rome, NY and Dean Johnson of Lanett, AL, on behalf of my partner, myself, and everybody else who feels the same way about your statements -- fuck off and die. You are the lowest form of human fecal material to disgrace the face of this earth. Your best hope to earn a membership card to the human race is to aspire to be a person of as high a quality as Barack Obama, my partner, and the millions of other people of Middle Eastern birth and ancestry who are more deserving of inhabiting the civilized world than you are.
Posted by: Mike O'Risal | June 29, 2008 10:19 AM
It is obvious that racism underlies all of the noise coming from the Clinton side. The Clintons themselves played up race during the campaign and now all of Hillary's estrogen soaked, white, suburban housewives will carry on in spite of the damage it may cause.
The stupid, it burns.
Posted by: Paul T. | June 29, 2008 10:22 AM
I have seen no convincing evidence that this shit is not predominately Republican ratfuckery.
http://physioprof.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/are-you-fucking-kidding-me/
Posted by: PhysioProf | June 29, 2008 10:23 AM
While it's easy to respect other people's considered opinions when they differ from one's own, and to respect an informed majority's right to out-vote an informed minority, it's more difficult to accept that bigoted, uninformed loonies have the same vote sane people.
So in a country like the US where so many revel in ignorance with a huge dollop of irrational fear and a side order of hatred, you're going to struggle to make democracy work well!
Posted by: Sam C | June 29, 2008 10:28 AM
Ed: Thanks for demonstrating that ignorance and bigotry are bipartisan. I have long been of the opinion that democracy does manage to deliver to Americans the leadership they deserve. Which is why it is a problem.
Posted by: kehrsam | June 29, 2008 10:29 AM
What PhysioProf said -- there is no large movement of Hillary supporters moving to McCain. It's Potemkin politics.
Check out this post from Amanda Marcotte for more information about PUMA.
I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in my fellow skeptics when they fall for shit like this.
Posted by: HP | June 29, 2008 10:44 AM
Maybe such folks are fucking retards and just don't know it yet?
*apologies to the mentally handicapped
Posted by: slpage | June 29, 2008 11:20 AM
The poll responses also show Obama has more work to do to quell fears among voters [...]
No, it doesn't. If you choose to believe someone is a terrorist for no reason, that doesn't mean they must work to convince you otherwise. It means you're an idiot, and no amount of work will change that.
Posted by: Kilgore Trout | June 29, 2008 11:23 AM
Not only do they vote... they own guns.
Posted by: arin | June 29, 2008 11:23 AM
There's plenty proof of us Hillary supporters going to McCain.
Why should we vote for HUSSEIN Obama? He ran the most SEXIST campaign in history. HUSSEIN Obama RAPED Hillary for months and we're supposed to forgive that?
Screw Obama and his supporters. Payback time.
Posted by: Mary | June 29, 2008 11:23 AM
Screw Obama and his supporters. Payback time.
So "payback," involves saddling us with four more years of Republican "leadership?" So, to get back at Obama you're willing to have McCain appoint two more conservative justices and give them that dream of overturning Roe v. Wade? Four more years of deficit spending with new corporate tax cuts to really push the dollar towards collapse? Four more years of Iraq and probably Iran?
Here's an idea, we can really get back at Obama, why don't we just declare dubya king for life? That'll show him! Election in November!?! What election in November?!?
Posted by: dogmeatib | June 29, 2008 11:38 AM
If these people actually manage to swing the election to McCain, I think we might have achieved the impossibility of having a presidential election more depressing than 04's. Got any statistics of people who aren't voting for Obama solely because of his race and name?
Posted by: Brandon | June 29, 2008 11:48 AM
Mary, thank you for confirming my assertion that many of Hillary's supporters are hormonally imbalanced racists.
Posted by: Paul T. | June 29, 2008 12:09 PM
Hello, people! "Mary" is not a Clinton supporter! This is right-wing ratfuckery!!!! Sheesh. Please, please, please, try to be a little more skeptical.
Posted by: PhysioProf | June 29, 2008 1:04 PM
These are the same people who are keeping the National Enquirer in business, aren't they?
Posted by: Elaine | June 29, 2008 1:13 PM
It's amazing how much noise a few malcontents can make. Obama is polling the same, if not better in the so called Clinton demographics than Kerry did four years ago, and he came within a whisker of winning the election.
But if McCain does win as these people wish then I hope they remember what a "principled" stand they took when their daughters are seeking out backstreet abortions.
I just wish these people decided to grow a backbone and decide that they're not going to let themselves be cowed into voting based on fear -- fear that's only fueled by rumors and wicked slurs.
Posted by: tacitus | June 29, 2008 1:31 PM
Umm....what? Did he also ride a flying dragon into New York City and blast a thousand people with its fiery breath?
Umm....what fellow skeptics fell for this? If you fall for shit like "The fact that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein means he's an Arabic terrorist," then I would hazard to say that you never qualified for the title of "skeptic" in the first place. "Moron" would seem much more accurate.
Posted by: Gretchen | June 29, 2008 1:58 PM
Mary: "Why should we vote for HUSSEIN Obama? He ran the most SEXIST campaign in history. HUSSEIN Obama RAPED Hillary for months and we're supposed to forgive that?"
OBVIOUS TROLL IS OBVIOUS.
Okay, not the most witty thing that could be said about Mary, but does she really deserve a serious response?
Posted by: J. J. Ramsey | June 29, 2008 2:07 PM
So many problems in American right now. It can overwhelm almost anyone if we think about it. I am a teacher and see this ignorance on a daily basis. The so called smart kids I teach from the millionaire homes are just as ignorant. What do you do? What will really work? I honestly think for myself that it is time to think about what the post-destruction American will look like.
What do I mean? It is too far gone. All the things that our Founding Fathers warned us about have happened and no one knows or cares. It cannot sustain. I have so hope in that the younger kids are interested in the election again and that Obama has inspired some of them. But to what? I think he is largely full of crap just as much as Mc Cain. I hate to think about kids who will be disillusioned years from now just like a man who wrote an article in the post today about 30 years in Zimbabwe. He believed once in a man of change and is crestfallen now.
What do we do? If we are destroyed how will we rebuild?
Posted by: King of Ireland | June 29, 2008 2:13 PM
operation chaos strikes again. pretty sad.
Posted by: coreydbarbarian | June 29, 2008 2:20 PM
"HUSSEIN Obama RAPED Hillary for months and we're supposed to forgive that?"
Even if you are who you claim to be, you are an utterly vile person for trivializing rape in this way. Do you actually know anyone that's been raped? If so, you wouldn't exploit the concept for cheap political hyperbole. If you really are a former Hillary supporter you should be ashamed of yourself, and I'm certain that Hillary would be ashamed of you.
If you're a Republican though, I guess: ha ha, rape. What a laugh riot you are.
Posted by: Bad | June 29, 2008 2:26 PM
I agree with MARY because HUSSEIN Obama is a FAG for being such a SEXIST RAPIST JEW.
Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | June 29, 2008 2:43 PM
Gretchen,
It appears that you have replied to HP's comment ("I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in my fellow skeptics when they fall for shit like this") thinking that Mary ("HUSSEIN Obama RAPED Hillary for months") said it. I can't make any sense of your response to HP unless I read it that way.
Unless I'm missing something?
Posted by: Michael Hoaglin | June 29, 2008 3:05 PM
Kirstie Hartle? Sounds like a terrorist name to me. Send her to Guantanamo, along with Mary the rapist.
Posted by: Michael | June 29, 2008 3:10 PM
I'm with PhysioProf and HP on this. As a former Clinton supporter who will, without hesistation, be voting for Obama, I find the notion that there is a large contingent of feminist Clinton supporters who refuse to back Obama laughable.
Are Clinton supporters angry about a few things? Sure. I'm angry about sexism in the campaign and how it was ignored. I'm really angry at the whole party now because of this stupid FISA bill. But I find it very difficult to believe that a Clinton supporter, angry or not, could possibly be so far from progressive that they would run around calling Obama a terrorist or putting his middle name in all caps. Please.
And the Clinton supporters will get over their anger and vote for Obama, but dismissing their concerns and calling them "hormonally imbalanced" isn't going to move that process along. I think Traister has it pretty much right (except she takes the Pumas to be real Hil backers). See here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/06/23/pumas/index.html
Posted by: Artemis311 | June 29, 2008 3:14 PM
@ Mary - it's ok, there is no need to hide behind a trans-gendered pseudonym. You are amongst a group of persons understanding of and sympathetic towards persons afflicted with the pandemic that has been taking its toll on Contemporary Conservatives these last 7 1/2 years. It must be psychically traumatising to suffer from a systemic variety of Acute Genitalia Deficit Disorder (AGDD). There is however great news of successful treatment in a rehabilitative program. It follows the daily regimen of having an
Official Abu Gharaib Interrogators' Model
Chemical Light Stick of GOP Enlightenment®
properly inserted by a Bush Man Date. The therapy will provide illumination for your mind's eye in the darkness it now resides in.
Posted by: a knight | June 29, 2008 4:57 PM
Mary wrote:
Thank you for demonstrating what a fucking idiot you are.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | June 29, 2008 5:29 PM
PhysioProf wrote:
And I've seen no convincing evidence that George Clooney is not an alien lizard person underneath his skin. Does that then mean I have to believe that he is? Come on, this is skepticism 101 here. I have no doubt that some of the "Hillary voters won't support Obama" meme is being pushed by Republicans because it is convenient and useful for them. I also have no doubt that there is some portion of it that is authentic and really reflects the opinions of one segment of those voters. Neither of those facts diminishes the validity of this post, which is that those people who genuinely hold such views are fucking morons. That they are morons who play into the hands of their purported political opponents only makes them bigger fucking morons.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | June 29, 2008 5:33 PM
Shorter Kirstie Hartle and Dean Johnson:
"Me, mah wahfe, mah sista', an mah cuz'n uh-gree: we jiz down truss HOO-SAYN Obama. Tha's whah we is both votin' fer Mic-Cayne!"
Posted by: Azkyroth | June 29, 2008 5:57 PM
Michael Hoaglin, my response to the comment re: skeptics was to the person who made it, HP.
Posted by: Gretchen | June 29, 2008 6:17 PM
I think the vast majority of Hillary supporters are going to back Obama. The ones that don't seem to fall safely into the "I read it in an email with 3000 names in the header, so it must be true!" camp. Who, because it isn't legal to kill them, should just be ignored.
That or the "If I can't have who I want I don't want anyone at all!" group of whiny children. They probably won't even vote, but will scream like banshees on the internet because it doesn't force them to get off their asses.
I'm grateful they keep getting quotes from people in Alabama like Dean Johnson.
It makes me not sound quite as much of a bastard when I chime in about killing these people, because I deal with them constantly.
I've stopped even responding to "Obama is an aaaatheist!" with "He's not, but I am. So what?" and just started saying "I fucking hope so."
Posted by: JThompson | June 29, 2008 6:42 PM
Are these people aware that in 1961, when Obama was born, Osama bin Laden was not an international terrorist and Saddam Hussein was just making his bones in the Baath opposition in Iraq? Do they believe that Obama's father, with magical Muslim powers, divined that the two would become prominent Muslims killers and so gave his son a name sort of, kind of like theirs?
They don't have to support Obama, but to oppose him on the basis of his name it too fucking stupid for words.
Posted by: pensy | June 29, 2008 7:12 PM
I just finished a quick scanning datastream dive looking for disinformation markers( it's a hobby, ok?), I also just dumped the post about it, because it was far too obtusely folded, even for me, and would likely be misconstrued/misunderstood.
I will state that I have a very high confidence there is in fact a real person, Kirstie Hartle of Rome, N.Y., who was a respondent in this poll. In fact I'd be willing to wager upon this. If what I found points to the same individual, I'd be very surprised if her "lifetime democratic voter" spanned more than 3 presidential campaigns. I can offer no good opinion on whether she is in fact a registered Democrat, Republican or even registered at all. I have no real desire to dig deeper, deriving no amusement from digging into personal accounts on social sites of bored and lonely users. It looks as if Kirstie is not very hip to the potentiality for permanence that is a quality of any tripe she decides to publish that directly points to her real name. (and yes, someone has already noted on a personal page of hers, that she is an imbecile for her Obama opinions, but it wasn't me...flaming fish in a barrel isn't even worth the expenditure in fuel.)
Posted by: a knight | June 29, 2008 7:25 PM
I can not speak on the issue of Hillary supporters ditching the party to support McCain, but I can speak about union labor members ditching the party to support McCain.
All of the folks I work with are good lifelong members of the United Steelworkers, or at least unions which have since been eaten by this union. These people have primarily Republican values, vote Republican on local issues, but follow the union line about voting Democratic every presidential election. The dichotomy is truly bizarre to see; R in all things but D for President because the Union says that will protect our jobs.
Not this year. I have never seen so much open skepticism and hostility over the last Steelworker magazine. That would be the issue which finally admitted Edwards is out of the race and threw the Union endorsement to Obama. It has been one nonstop freakshow of racial, religious and ethnic smears, lies and worries.
Those Hillary supporters may be plants, I have no idea, but I am working with dozens of folks who are going to be voting for their first Republican President this fall.
Posted by: Sean | June 29, 2008 7:26 PM
Well, it's like all the stupid (no, fucking retarded) voters out there who think Obama is anti-war.
Posted by: wheyghey | June 29, 2008 7:27 PM
I hope that all of us that can will do our best to help Hillary Clinton pay off ALL of her campaign debt quickly. She deserves that. You all knew Hillary, and Bill would go out on a limb for us if they felt they had too. That's what they do. :-) As I said before Hillary Clinton was STUNNING!!!
You witnessed the greatest political campaign struggle in American history. One for the textbooks, and the history books. Hillary Clinton fought her heart out against all odds to win for all of the American people. While at the same time doing her best to prepare Sen. Barack Obama to win in November if he was the nominee. STUNNING!!! WELL DONE HILLARY CLINTON. WELL DONE! Your AMAZING! :-)
Sen. Obama could not have had a better opponent than Hillary Clinton. Nor could he have had a better opponent to prepare him for the battle royal to come against John McCain and the Republicans ahead of the November elections. Hillary Clinton was like a big Mama cat determined to teach her kitten how to hunt, and hang with the big dogs for the fights ahead. The Clinton's have won the Whitehouse twice before. They know what it will take.
Hillary Clinton took Sen. Obama to every brawl, and cat fight she could find for him to develop his fight, and his chops. She even let her men (President Clinton, Governor Rendell, and many others) loose on Sen. Obama a little bit. So as to give Sen. Obama a taste of just how rough, and tough the big boys will be to do battle with. :-)
From sea to shining sea and US territories Hillary Clinton took Sen. Obama to see all of America. To meet, and greet all it's people. And to ask for their votes and support, which he will need if he becomes President. She took him to see what he will be fighting for. And to see what she and President Clinton have fought so heroically for over so many years. Sen. Obama could not have ask for any better. Nor had any better teachers.
Bill Clinton, Chelsea, Mrs. Rodham, and the whole Clinton team were magnificent. They really showed their metal. BRAVO! TEAM CLINTON... BRAVO!
And YOU! my fellow Americans. I'm so proud of you. And proud to be one of you. You showed what you are made of. And what makes America so great. You never gave up on your Champion Hillary Clinton. Time, and time again you eagerly waited your turn to vote for Hillary Clinton. To raise her up and pass her along down the line to the rest of your waiting fellow Americans.
You never gave up on her. Just as Hillary Clinton never gave up on you. No matter how many times they counted her out. No matter how many times her detractors, and attackers brutally knocked her down. You knew she would get back up and get after it. And when she did you were ready to support her. This is your role model America. AMERICA LOVES A FIGHTER. AMERICA UNDERSTANDS A FIGHTER. AMERICA IS A FIGHTER. I'M PROUD OF YOU AMERICA!
Sen. Clinton looked a little tired her first day back at work in the senate after her history making heroic campaign. She has good reason to be tired. Doesn't she America. But with time and good attention to the basics she, and you will recover. The basics are good well balanced nutrition, hydration, rest, exercise, recreation, POSITIVE! emotional support, and time (the greatest healer of all).
Y'all be good to President Clinton. I never saw a man fight so hard for a woman, and the American people as President Clinton fought for Hillary Clinton, and you. It's going to take Bill a while. No one except Hillary Clinton could have fought any harder than President Clinton did for you.
I imagine President Clinton still remembers how the American people wailed, reached, and cried out for him as he took that last flight home as your President on Air Force One after the 2000 elections. Yes, many of us knew back then what was coming for the American people under a republican administration. Back to living like dumb animals again. Fighting over territory, and scraps of meat. You are dieing like fly's now. Republicans too. But it's ok because some people are making a lot of money off of your needless deaths. :-(
As always, Hillary Clinton, and President Clinton did their best for all of us. It was an EPIC!
YOU MADE US VERY PROUD HILLARY CLINTON! HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH :-)
WE LOVE YOU. AND ADMIRE YOU...
jacksmith... Working Class :-)
Posted by: jacksmith | June 29, 2008 7:33 PM
Yeah, Jack. Don't you admire Hillary's vote for the Iraq war? Wasn't that awesome? How about when she voted for the Patriot Act? That was totally Hillary. You go girl.
Posted by: wheyghey | June 29, 2008 7:44 PM
wait a minute. george clooney is an alien lizard person?
Posted by: coreydbarbarian | June 29, 2008 8:13 PM
Didn't mean to be a drive-by, but life intervened.
Ed, I have no doubt that the woman in your original post is an idiot. But the plural of anecdote still is not data.
There is positive evidence -- outlined in the link I gave above, and the corroborating links from that post -- that the founder of PUMA is a Republican operative. Not overwhelming evidence, to be sure, but the only positive evidence I've seen anywhere. And it indicates that the idea that there is a coherent movement of Clinton supporters to the McCain camp is indeed ratfuckery.
Since I'm tossing out cliches, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. To claim that progressive feminists would throw their votes to McCain in a fit of pique is an extraordinary (and extraordinarly sexist -- women are so fickle!, "hell hath no fury," blah, blah, blah) claim. Where is your evidence? By being so quick to accept the current narrative about Clinton supporters, you are wandering dangerously close to scumbag territory. Confirmation bias much? That's not skepticism 101, that's high school AP skepticism. That's A Child's Garden of Skepticism.
All you have are anecdotal accounts of individual morons that have been hand-selected by parties with a vested interest in propagating the PUMA meme. Who selects the data? What aren't you being shown? Cui bono?
To Tyler @ 2:43 -- My god, that was hilarious.
Posted by: HP | June 29, 2008 9:11 PM
This makes me f*cking furious.
HP, it's not the progressive feminist that we have to worry about tossing a vote to McCain. It's the uninformed blue-collar men and women who feel disinfranchised by a progressive, reform candidate.
A progressive feminist will vote based on the issues. A blue collar citizen will vote based on the misinformation that Obama is an Arab, not understanding that there's a difference between being black and being from the middle east.
Posted by: JStein | June 29, 2008 9:40 PM
A McCain victory might be the best thing for the rest of the world. In the long run. I mean, a lot of people will die in the meantime, obviously. But in the long run, a swift collapse of the American empire might be best.
Posted by: Paul Murray | June 29, 2008 9:49 PM
Those Hillary supporters may be plants, I have no idea, but I am working with dozens of folks who are going to be voting for their first Republican President this fall.
This is the position I simply don't understand. Along with the legitimate Hillary supporters who plan to vote for McCain, I don't get it. I vote for a candidate based on their stance on the issues. In our two party system, that certainly means I have to pick between the two candidates who most closely aligns with my position, and that isn't always easy, but that leaves me in a rather simple position. If I were to agree with the Democrats on their positional stance, whether it be Biden, Clinton, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Richardson, I would shift, along with most logical voters, to the next candidate who more closely matches my personal position on the issues.
I just don't see it, other than a "HA HA! That's what you get!" approach which is rather like shooting oneself in the groin in order to show that girl who wouldn't go out with you until next weekend what she's missing.
If you look at their policy stances, their stated positions on issues, the logical choice for a legitimate Clinton supporter would be to vote for Obama.
Overall, given the state of the economy, the debt, our foreign affairs situation, infrastructure breaking down, etc., it doesn't matter much who gets elected, they're going to be almost guaranteed a Carter-esque presidency, but you do still have the appointments and the possibility that they can fix this mess we're in ... Four more years of Bush style policies and programs, all the while cowtowing to the religious right could only make things worse for anyone who agrees with even 1/4 of what any of the Democrats have proposed.
Posted by: dogmeatib | June 29, 2008 10:39 PM
1) Intrade is giving Obama basically 2:1 over McCain. If you're sure McCain will win, go bet on him. You'll triple your investment in 4 months.
2) The Democrats registered a huuuuge number of new voters as a result of the long primary.
Posted by: steve s | June 29, 2008 11:11 PM
I can imagine there are a number of Clinton supporters who are feeling quite bitter just now. But there's five months to terrorize them with the threat of McCain SCOTUS appointees, endless quagmire, regressive taxation, and the like. I fully expect her people will, by November, realize they have no other tolerable option.
Posted by: Scott Hanley | June 29, 2008 11:49 PM
Well we knew from day one that clinton did best with poor uneducated white voters, and obama did best with just about everybody else.
The only problem was that the uneducated white vote generally supports the republican. So if clinton was nominee her key demographic would most likely abandon her for the even whiter john mccain, he also has that whole "im a man"/patriarchy angle wrapped up nicely.
If obama does loose these idiots, I don't think its a substantial one, because in all liklihood clinton wouldn't have kept them either. Plus she would have lost a great deal of the current democrat support from independents, who only marginally preffered her to mccain.
Posted by: random guy | June 30, 2008 1:55 AM
Shouldn't that have been 'said retarded salesman . . .' ??
In particular since he comes from Alabama as well as being a salesman??
Posted by: shonny | June 30, 2008 2:34 AM
As one who has never had one of my initial candidates make it all the way to nomination, I can say, yes, many will come around and do what is right. BTW this is the first time I've ever been able to actually choose a candidate b/c Indiana's vote usually doesn't count in a presidential primary.
Posted by: Rev. AJB | June 30, 2008 10:21 AM
I don't buy that people who are at all liberal are throwing their weight behind McCain b/c they are racist idiots. However, I can tell you that there are people (they tend to be conservative, but I've heard them go for Democratic pols in the past)who are anti-Obama for inane reasons.
For example: My grandmother insisted that Obama is "Moslim" and she had an article that the author said they interviewed someone who said that Obama said he is "Moslem American". (yes that is someone said that someone said that Obama said... ARGH) I couldn't restrain myself and told her "Gram, people are LYING. Don't believe stuff unless you have a quote from the horse's mouth" "Well, I guess the truth will come out; we'll see..."
*sigh*
I don't think it's racist as much as "scary religion" (what is that called?) but it's no better.
Posted by: Kelly | June 30, 2008 11:09 AM
"Scary religion" is only a part of it. Racism is the bigger part of it-and the "Moslim" faith is only brought up in racist ways. I'm sure most of the rednecks working for my folks are anti-Obama, and most of them only darken the door of a church if someone is being hatched, matched, or dispatched;-)
Posted by: Rev. AJB | June 30, 2008 11:15 AM
What the fuck does being an Arab have to do with being a Muslim anyway? Most Arabs in the United States are Christian.
Most of the world's Muslims are Asians.
Many of the world's Arabs don't live in the Middle East.
I mean, DUH! Wake up, people! How can anybody be so stupid?
Posted by: Kristine | June 30, 2008 12:26 PM
There are a couple of ways to make a decision on a subject that you lack knowledge:
Find a very intelligent person and ask his opinion. But this can be tricky as you have to find an intelligent person.
or
"You can't trust anybody these days, so who's to say he's not a terrorist and we just don't realize it yet?"
You can find an SID (Standard IDiot) and ask them and do the opposite.
Looks like Obama for me!
Posted by: CybrgnX | June 30, 2008 7:07 PM
Kristine wrote:
Well, they are both synonymous with "Un-American" if you're a racist, xenophobic asshat. For one.
I think that's pretty much it.
Posted by: Leni | June 30, 2008 8:07 PM