The smear campaigns are starting to take their toll. He was going to have to address this stuff at some point in the general election, so maybe it will help him in the long run to deal with this stuff now. Joe Klein sums up the problem.
There was another issue bubbling, which I hesitate to raise because it is largely scurrilous. It has to do with Obama’s patriotism. There is a segment of the American populace that just can’t get past his name. There are Internet sleaze purveyors — a few, sadly, with roots in the Jewish community — who have exploited this fact to spread slanderous nonsense about Obama. Hillary Clinton disgraced herself by playing into these innuendos by telling 60 Minutes that Obama isn’t Islamic “as far as I know.” Over the past few weeks, though, both Barack and Michelle Obama have given ammunition to the smear artists. Michelle’s moment was her extremely unfortunate statement that the success of her husband’s campaign had made her “proud of my country” for the first time in her adult life. The Senator’s moment came in the Ohio debate when he played political word games before rejecting the support of the bigot Louis Farrakhan. The hesitation was noticeable — and unacceptable. There are other guilt-by-association problems floating out there: the occasional over-the-top racial statements by Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright; the fact that Obama has been described as “friendly” with 1960s dilettante-terrorist William Ayers. It seemed clear on primary night that Obama was aware of this potential problem, as patriotism replaced hope as a theme of his concession speech. He echoed John McCain in citing Abraham Lincoln, and called America “the last best hope on Earth.” That was the only “hope” he mentioned — a fascinating calibration.
I noticed the same thing in his speech. He emphasized the love he has for his country. This is not new for him, but addressing the patriotism issue head on is not a bad idea.
