It's not much, but I like it.
It's a little hard to watch, but it's worth looking into why people think this way in light of these poll numbers about the beliefs of people in Mississippi and Alabama. The summary at Think Progress is short and sweet:
As the Republican presidential candidates turn their sights on Mississippi and Alabama, where the next two contests are held, a new PPP poll finds that a plurality of Republicans in both states think President Obama is a Muslim. More than half of GOP voters in Mississippi said they held the incorrect view, while 45 percent of Alabama Republicans hold the view. Just 12 and 14 percent, respectively, correctly identified Obama as Christian. Meanwhile, the same poll found that two-thirds of Alabama Republicans believe interracial marriage should be legal, compared with 54 percent of Mississippi Republicans. (HT: Jonathan Chait)
But the reality is, the people who feel this way in Mississippi and Alabama aren't all that alone among conservatives and people who identify as evangelical Christians. The same poll, if you click through to Chait, shows a two thirds majority of Republicans in those states don't believe in evolution, either. I think these numbers indicate in part why the idea of Obama being a Muslim still pertains for them--recollect, from the clip, where one gentleman indicated that he preferred his president to be American "not Muslim". Another indicated that Barack Obama's name alone was disqualification enough. I think it's because he isn't their kind of Christian, and not their kind of biracial person either. (Sorry to use Franklin Graham as my example of what is going on here--but I think he's best articulated the "not that Christian" and "sort of foreign and not-white" viewpoint the clearest.)
At a recent prayer breakfast, President Obama spoke openly about his Christianity, and how it informed his view of government. This didn't exactly appeal to all Christians in attendance, because while it may be safe to literally believe in the Bible, it's still a bit dicey to liberally quote it. This isn't to call people who view Obama as less Christian or less American as strictly bigoted, per se. I think they just don't know what the hell to make of him. Because he doesn't fit their worldview--out he goes. Even if his economic ideas might be more beneficial. Even if the poorest among them could use government help. Ultimately, they don't like what he represents--a change. For people who have a sense of loss, there is meaning in holding on to things you understand.
I don't know where that thought finishes up, because I'm still working on it. It just struck me that these people of the Deep South don't feel the way they do for no reason at all. And it actually is to point out that they aren't alone in their reservations about Obama as a matter of identity. I even somewhat get why the romance of self-sufficiency and embrace of identity politics sometimes trumps self-interest. But it's really hard to see where there is overlap between Team Obama and Team "The South Will Rise Again, to Do What We Aren't Exactly Sure, But It'll be Something".
Maybe there isn't one. But there's no harm in trying to find it.
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