Evidence that smears against Obama work

How unfortunate: a Southern Ohio voter who is interested in Obama is concerned that he’s Muslim.

Of course, our pals in the right-wing blogosphere here in Ohio are more interested in “winning” by smearing Obama (by using his middle name, when he doesn’t, and other things to perpetuate the false “Muslim” smear) than in the truth. Many of them are upset at McCain for condemning these kinds of smears. (I don’t use my middle name colloquially, so if someone else was, I’d think they had some kind of ulterior motive. Especially if my middle name was “Hussein”. The “it’s just his given middle name” defense rings hollow; your intent to associate him with radical Islam and with Saddam Hussein is transparent.)

This overlooks the unfortunate fact that “Muslim” is a dirty word in America, despite the fact that Muslims actually like us.