Posted by Jed Lewison on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 2:16 PM Pacific

The false Muslim smear campaign paying dividends for Hillary Clinton

Via Politico's Avi Zenilman, blogging for the vacationing Ben Smith, a newly released Pew Poll finds:

White Democrats who hold unfavorable views of Obama are much more likely than those who have favorable opinions of him to express less tolerant views on race. In addition, nearly a quarter of Democrats (23%) who hold a negative view of Obama believe he is a Muslim.

And:

There is little evidence that the recent news about Obama's affiliation with the United Church of Christ has dispelled the impression that he is Muslim. While voters who heard "a lot"about Reverend Wright's controversial sermons are more likely than those who have not to correctly identify Obama as a Christian, they are not substantially less likely to still believe that he is Muslim. Nearly one-in-ten (9%) of those who heard a lot about Wright still believe that Obama is Muslim.

Update: Here's a cross-tab focusing white Democrats and Democratic-leaners with racist, sexist, or blindly patriotic values, and of those who hold the false perception that Obama is a Muslim.

These voters are a substantial part of Hillary Clinton's base. One important question is whether this is serendipity for the Clinton campaign, or if she has actively shaped their unfavorable views towards Obama.

The false Muslim smear campaign paying dividends for Hillary Clinton

Obama is not a Muslim. He's a Christian.

Via Politico's Avi Zenilman, blogging for the vacationing Ben Smith, a newly released Pew Poll finds:

White Democrats who hold unfavorable views of Obama are much more likely than those who have favorable opinions of him to express less tolerant views on race. In addition, nearly a quarter of Democrats (23%) who hold a negative view of Obama believe he is a Muslim.

And:

There is little evidence that the recent news about Obama's affiliation with the United Church of Christ has dispelled the impression that he is Muslim. While voters who heard "a lot"about Reverend Wright's controversial sermons are more likely than those who have not to correctly identify Obama as a Christian, they are not substantially less likely to still believe that he is Muslim. Nearly one-in-ten (9%) of those who heard a lot about Wright still believe that Obama is Muslim.

Update: Here's a cross-tab focusing white Democrats and Democratic-leaners with racist, sexist, or blindly patriotic values, and of those who hold the false perception that Obama is a Muslim.

These voters are a substantial part of Hillary Clinton's base. One important question is whether this is serendipity for the Clinton campaign, or if she has actively shaped their unfavorable views towards Obama.