Hypocrisy has quickly become the defining feature of the Obama campaign for president

Original Link: http://wwsword.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-opts-out-of-public-finance.html

Hypocrisy has quickly become the defining feature of the Obama campaign for president. Two Muslim women wearing the hijab were removed from their positions behind Obama at a Detroit rally so they would not be photographed and videotaped with the Democratic nominee. The incident properly disillusioned Hebba Aref and Shimaa Abdelfadeel.

Michigan has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country. And the Obama campaign's disrespect towards Muslims is evidenced by far more than this incident. The way in which he denies he is a Muslim is off-putting not only to Muslims but to anybody who believes that faith communities should be respected by the man who aims to lead them. After all, the president is supposed to be the president of all Americans, not just Christians. His denials of being a Muslim sound like denunciations of Islam, and his comments claiming to respect the faith always sound like a superficial hedge.

Aref said, "I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to. The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters."

Muslims were disrespected on two different incidents at the same Detroit rally. Representatives for the Obama campaign told one of the persons discriminated against "that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world and what's going on with Muslim Americans it's not good for her to be seen on TV or associated with Obama." It doesn't get any clearer than that. It all about image.

This type of manipulation of the television audience goes on all the time at Obama events. In North Carolina, when it was noted that Obama doesn't do well among white voters and women voters, the campaign positioned behind him a group of middle-aged white women and supplied them with tiny American flags to wave for the cameras.

Some have defended Obama's manipulative strategies by saying that such identity politics is typical for politicians. Now hold on a just a moment. I thought Obama wasn't the typical politician. I thought he was a unique entity in American politics - a new kind of politician. Obviously that's a myth. And that makes Obama a hypocrite.

Since Obama doesn't have enough experience to be president, and his command of the issues is severely impoverished, he runs on the notion that he's a new type of politician. He's explicit about this strategy. Yet we can all see by these instances, as well as dozens more I have documented on this blog, that Obama is not a new kind of politician. So what's left to sell the public? Can his one remaining unique trait - that he's black - carry him across the finish line? And don't tell me he gives great speeches. His alleged gifts as an orator are mass media hype.