Obama's Unspoken Problem

I have no illusions about what an Obama presidency will be like when it comes to the U.S. foreign policy,especially its policies in the Middle East. But what I am certain of is that a McCain presidency will be far worse.

At a party for my son's soccer team the conversation among the adults turned to electoral politics. Some parents were discussing the merits, or rather the lack of merits, of McCain's choice for vice president, Sarah Palin. A woman, the wife of the host sat by me and upon hearing the topic of the discussion opined that she loved Palin and the views she represented. "I know what's coming next", I told myself, and sure enough she obliged almost immediately. "And anyway, I don't trust this Barack guy; he is a Moslem, you know". I bristled, glanced at my wife who walked away in disgust, and said "who says that he is Moslem?". "Well he was registered as a Moslem when he went to school in Indonesia ". "So what if he was?" I said, getting more irritated. Most Americans are averse to contentious public political argument; so another woman suggested that we change the topic. I knew that getting into a heated exchange was futile; I walked away.

That such opinion exists is the United States is no big surprise given the unrelenting anti-Muslim paranoia of the last seven years. That a woman in an affluent, Northeastern, cosmopolitan city feels unrestrained to make such a statement in public is a little surprising. Moreover, this woman surely knows that we were from "over there somewhere"; my son is the only one on this otherwise lily-white team with dark hair and a perpetual tan. It is likely that she was too ignorant or too thick-headed to have connected the dots. At least she was honest in what she said. In polite company, Americans tend to be politically correct and will not spout such charged remarks. So the question is, how many American readily share her opinion that Obama is "tainted" by his connection to Islam? And how many others, who may not publicly support such a claim, actually agree with it.

How many Americans, standing in a voting booth with the curtain closed are willing to vote for a black man whose names in Barack Hussein Obama? It is more than I think and more than most Americans are willing to admit. Therein lies Obama's problem.