Jay said:You're naiive.
There are plenty of idiots who think Obama is a Muslim terrorist trying to infiltrate the White House simply because he's dark-skinned and has a foreign-sounding name, so speakers emphasize that middle name strongly and repeatedly at their froth-mouthed rallies because they want to illicit an irrational response from the fearful, angry red sheep. Take a speechmaking/communications course and then watch these people and how they address the crowds. Listen to their words and how they attack the man; it's rarely based on his policies. The focus is on Obama being a friend of terrorists, a big question mark, a socialist, a Marxist, an unpatriotic man who is against America and its ideals. It's right in your face whether you choose to see it or not.
McCain has run one of the lowest, most desperate campaigns in the history of presidential elections by adopting the same tactics of misinformation and fear used by Bush, and with any luck, he'll be rewarded properly once all the votes are tallied.
In my mind I'm not being naive, but as accurate as I can be. To that end, I have already been considering the fact that this country is filled with fools that allow themselves to believe silly nonsense. I just don't see one ounce of evidence that anyone in the mainstream is knowingly trying to deceive anyone for political gain. (I could be wrong, but I don't see a single, substantial reason as to why that would be.)
First, as far as I have seen, most Republican leaders and conservative leaders have been avoiding and discouraging people from attacking Obama over his middle name (not clearly, of course, but it's not as if they're out to defend Obama either). The mainstream groups of people who are mentioning "Hussein" (at rallies or in arguments that support McCain) are ones that believe it's a winning approach because they actually think it's relevant. I believe that's unfair, stupid, and often nasty on their part, but as far as I can tell those people are sincere and aren't trying to lie to anyone.
What I am certain you have been seeing from the mainstream supporters of John McCain (and attributing dark, conspiratorial intentions to) is genuine, out-in-the-open distrust and dislike. They blow the issue of Obama's name way out of proportion for the sake of other concerns that are legitimate by comparison. For instance, from a purely objective standpoint, Obama's name betrays a heritage and upbringing that might contain values that are foreign to a lot of Americans and many, in light of the fact that they are apposed to him, will naturally twist that for the sake of politics. As an obvious result, in their minds, small fears become certain threats and mysterious pasts become the possibility of dark plans to "enslave" America. There's nothing more to it than this, really. For the most part these people are rational human beings, but they have parts of themselves which go crazy from time to time (which we all do).
Otherwise, the true kooks of our society are too insignificant and too disconnected. There's nothing to be gained by manipulating such a statistically irrelevant portion of the undecided electorate when they already come to their crazy conclusions without politicians pushing them there like cattle. In other words, those who are totally into the "Hussein" issue are paranoid people in the first place that will generally find sources of information that match their fears all on their own. Most of them are already in line with "right-wingers" or "conservatives" (assuming they're not so crazy and fearful that they won't even vote at all). The few, remaining, "Hussein" kooks in our society that would have otherwise been "undecided" are an incredibly tiny portion and not worth worrying about.
A truthful concern must be based upon evidence and I think you're showing me that not very concerned with evidence when you don't want to be. While McCain has definitely run one of the most dumbed-down campaigns that I can remember (partly because he's so dumb himself), it has not been "one of the lowest, most desperate campaigns in the history of presidential elections" as you say. That statement is one that is very ignorant of American history and rather unfair to John McCain (who has generally given Obama a lot of respect when not voicing genuine concerns regarding "judgement" as he would call it). However, because you appose John McCain, it becomes clear as to why you'd claim something so far-fetched: you actively try to see the worst of intentions and desires in the guy apposed to your guy. Likewise, I think we can conclude that you're seeing evil lies coming from diabolical people (when there's no evidence of that), because you want to distrust and malign people you disagree with. All people make this kind of mistake all the time and you shouldn't be so quick to distrust people who are, in reality, being motivated by similar fears and dislikes.
Anyways, the scariest lies in society are not the ones that come from and affect the fringe of the arguments in our minds or the people on the fringe of society. They are the ones that people speak openly as primary concerns and the ones that motivate large groups of people to support horrible injustices. Lies supporting irrational, class warfare and other behaviors that hurt the innocent come to my mind first. I don't see any fear generated by Obama's name rising to that level of threat anytime soon. At most it's a piece of nonsense that complicates clear thinking and I mostly appose it on that basis.
I'm not sure why Obama hasn't more clearly fought to dispell the nonsense surrounding his name more soundly. Generally, one thing that's better about him than McCain is his slightly greater willingness to openly talk about issues and take things on directly. However, strangely, when it comes to his name and his upbringing, he goes out of his way to hide them both. He's obviously afraid that people will be swayed negatively by an open discussion of these things and that really bugs me. It shows that when he doesn't have talking points being fed to him, he's a man that is just as intellectually clumsy and fearful as McCain if not even more so.