Israel Matzav

Obama fights the 'smears'

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama has a new website called Fight the Smears (Hat Tip: Hot Air). The 'lies' he's trying to refute relate to the Michelle Obama 'whitey' tape, whether he was ever a Muslim, whether his books contain racially incendiary remarks and whether he won't say the pledge of allegiance or put his hand over his heart.

I can prove that the second and fourth ones are true myself....

This is going to be fun. I can't wait to hear what 'smears' he claims about his 'Palestinian' connections.

It's also kind of interesting to see him define "Barack Obama is a Muslim" as a smear. I wonder what his fundraisers in Gaza will have to say about that.

UPDATE 5:05 PM

The site's 'official' story is here (Hat Tip: Memorandum).

According to campaign officials, what finally launched Obama into a full rumor counteroffensive was a story that apparently first made a big splash on the Internet in late May in a post by pro-Hillary Clinton blogger Larry Johnson. Quoting "someone in touch with a senior Republican," Johnson claimed that there was a video of Michelle Obama "blasting 'whitey' during a rant at Jeremiah Wright's church." (Later versions of the rumor had Michelle's "rant" happening at a Rainbow/push Coalition conference.) No such videotape has surfaced.

When the Obama campaign got wind of the rumor in April, Michelle's close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett asked Michelle if there could be anything to it; the candidate's wife dismissed it out of hand. But by mid-May, it was picking up steam on the Internet, and Michelle's advisers decided it was time to have a serious talk with her about it. On a campaign swing through Oregon, Michelle's chief of staff Melissa Winter grilled her on the particulars of the various versions. Had she ever spoken at Trinity Church? Could she ever recall having uttering that racial epithet? No, no, Michelle answered again and again. Additionally, she said, "whitey" is simply not a word that African Americans of her generation tend to use — or that she herself would ever say. Michelle was shocked and frustrated when her aides approached her the second time about the alleged incident.

Obama's new rumor shredder makes it easy to find both the "lies" and the "facts" behind the "mystery tape rumor." Secondary pages note that "even some conservatives don't buy it" and list two well-read conservative bloggers who have debunked the tape tale. And in what is likely to be the most read part of the new site, the campaign cites the probable sources of the stories in a section called "Who's behind the lies?" As the Obama sleuths explain it, the "Michelle Obama Mystery Tape Rumor" appears to be a work of fiction lifted "almost word for word from a novel published in 2006."

Here's what it says about Israel:

Though the latest and most poisonous rumors about Michelle were ginned up by a pro-Clinton website, Obama knows that—notwithstanding John McCain's pledge that his own campaign will not engage in smears—more rumors can be expected in a general-election campaign. Trying to kill them with oxygen and openness is a risky approach. But Obama is attempting to find the humor—and the votes—by taking the rumors head-on. Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee last week, Obama greeted his largely Jewish audience, which has had doubts about his support for Israel, some fed by anonymous e-mail, by acknowledging, "Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative e-mails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country. A few of you may have gotten them. They're filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for President. And all I want to say is, Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening."

As I noted last night, I don't think he's come clean on the Muslim story. As long as you keep acting like you have something to hide, people who aren't predisposed to being sympathetic with you are going to keep asking questions. And the more defensive you get, the more they will think (the more we do think) that they (we) are onto something.

But the question of whether he is a Muslim is much less troublesome to me than other aspects of Obama's campaign. He has consistently associated with, and taken advice from, people who are known to be anti-Israel and/or anti-Jewish. Brzezinski, Power, McPeak, Jeremiah Wright, Rob Malley - the list goes on and on. I could never vote for someone who counts people like that among his advisers. Never. 'Fighting the smears' won't change that.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:34 PM