Obama Fires Back

After being falsely accused of attending a radical Muslim school as a child by the magazine Insight, a story which was repeated on Fox News and in the Washington Post, Barak Obama has fired back with a statement signaling that this kind of smear journalism will not be tolerated. In a very aggressive denial of the report he set the tone which hopefully will cause others to make sure of their facts before repeating rumors. CNN actually went to the "Muslim school" and in their report discredited the Insight report

If Doocy or the staff at Fox and Friends had taken [time] to check their facts, or simply made a call to his office, they would have learned that Senator Obama was not educated in a Madrassa, was not raised as a Muslim, and was not raised by his father – an atheist Obama met once in his life before he died.

To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago. Furthermore, the Indonesian school Obama attended in Jakarta is a public school that is not and never has been a Madrassa.

He went on to say:

These malicious, irresponsible charges are precisely the kind of politics the American people have grown tired of, and that Senator Obama is trying to change by focusing on bringing people together to solve our common problems.

In making this kind of response he seems to be signaling that he is aware that this nomination is going to be a uphill battle and he is willing and able to defend himself from attacks from all sides. Running for President is no easy task and Barak already has negatives to deal with and overcome. Being Black, having a Muslim-sounding name, contesting the primaries with Hillary Clinton and lack of extensive experience in national politics.

When John Kerry was running against President Bush, many attempts were made to belittle his character. He was called a flip flop. He was not always consistent in defending himself leaving some to wonder if the accusations were true. What this did was to cause some people to doubt his ability to lead the nation. It eventually cost him the election.

The swift response by Barak Obama gives the opposite impression. He comes off as some one who will defend himself, is sure of himself and is not afraid to stand up for himself. He ended his response with an appeal directly to the American people:

"These malicious, irresponsible charges are precisely the kind of politics the American people have grown tired of"

Seeing the attack for what it was and willing to move on, in a positive way is only going to help his campaign.