May 21, 2008
by Robert W. Barker

The Fear Zone is near the Twilight Zone, and we are in both...

A friend of mine works for "get out the vote" in Florida he does phone solicitations for registering voters and information on polls and procedures at election times. His conversations with many people have given him an in depth perspective of the mood of America. My sister is a health care worker in Beavercreek, Ohio, and she speaks to lots of folks every day as she is the go between for insurance and federal pay out programs. My father is a retired business owner in New Carlisle, Ohio, and he speaks to very few people but is highly opinionated.

All three are life long Democrats and all three will vote for John McCain if Obama gets in, and they all state that millions of others will repeat this maneuver, and I am starting to believe that.

I asked them "why" and the answer is typical of the responses Greg gets in Florida everyday on the phone.

His name scares the Hell out of them, and brings out the ethnocentric, xenophobic nature of the USA. I hear this at the supermarket the drug store and the gym, and I find myself constantly explaining to people that his name is Islamic but his creed is the same as theirs, yet they are not easily convinced.

Barack Hussein Obama is a fine proud name and one would think a given name should not make a difference in a liberated society.

But his nomenclature will kill his chances in the general election.

Why?

Fear, that's why, fear of Islamic takeovers that the Republicans have pushed for years, Fear he is faking his Christian beliefs, fear that he is a secret Muslim, fear that he is another Osama not Obama.

Following 9/11 the hate of Islam became a national pastime and fear of the Islamic terror evolved into anger and disdain. Ministers railed against the Islamic creed day in day out on national television and church each Sunday.

Movies, Media, and television promote the fear for profits, with an ongoing barrage of terrorist hate films that draw little distinction between the extremist and the Saudi next door. We hear words like Islamofascist, Islamic terrorist, angry cab drivers in New York and the dirty deeds of a few extremist are transferred to an entire belief system. Pigeon holing stereotyping generalizing have always been one of mankind's great failures; and in the USA we excel at ethnocentric tags.

So perhaps we only kid ourselves if we think they will vote for a tag that puts the candidate squarely in the "Islamic Fear Zone," at least in the minds of the white working class.

Many people will not be convinced by his attendance in a Liberation theology church, and ignorant people are suspicious and Xenophobic and will easily believe he is a Muslim ready to take over Christian America. This sounds unrealistic to insulated progressives but it is a reality we must deal with to win in November.

Deep seated paranoia planted by Neo Cons and evangelical preachers across the nation stir trepidation that permeates the core of America, and leaves a good man in deep trouble in the general election.

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Americans are now in the "Fear Zone," a place where mistrust overcomes common sense and good judgment is trumped by trepidation of Islamic terror.

Obama is a fine man in my humble estimation, he would probably make a great president and leader yet is the man electable?

His electability will be further challenged going forward to November and the right wing will paint him as an out of control liberal with Islamic ties.

Revered Wright's loud voice has weakened him in his own circles and he has never connected with white middle class America and one must do that to win in the general elections.

White middle class working people are not highly educated usually less culturally accepting and have a deep seated fear of the Islamic bogeyman and will not vote for a Hussein or Obama or a Barack and the candidate is all three.

Our ethnocentrism is too hard wired and way too ingrained to relieve in the time he has before the November elections.

It is not racism as an Obama would win hands down if he was an African American called Jimmy Little or Tom Foreman or Hank Greenburg yet not with an Islamic name.
 
I could be wrong and it could be the numbers of such people are smaller then one imagines or perhaps we will see the opening of the American minds in November but I doubt it. The demographics do not add up, the white majority that votes is the largest segment of the population and of those the working lower middle class is the largest group within the Caucasian majority.

Think about the ignorance we face daily in this country and you will realize Obama cannot win in that atmosphere.

He can win Primaries as the Democrat elite, the well educated and the African America population stand firmly in his corner, but they are small numbers compared to the vast silent majority that will show up to keep a Moslem out of office.

Islamic hate or Islamophobia permeates this country and is one factor no one can overcome. We are ignorant to the core and our xenophobia is strong and the name Obama is far too close to Osama, that one single letter b instead of s is not enough to differentiate for the educationally challenged fear conditioned Americas, that is a guarantee for John McCain to win and more Bush policy for four more years.

Sad but true and I will go on record to say Democrats will lose in the general elections if Obama gets in, it is not the man's fault he is a fine man and great candidate. But the Islamic fear promoters do not even have to say anything on this one it is inherent in his name.

Hillary may not be electable either, yet in all recent polls comparing the two Democrats against the Republican presumptive candidate John McCain head to head, Barack Obama loses and Hillary Clinton wins, or another poll had them both beating McCain yet Hillary by a slightly larger margin. Polls are over the place and one puts little faith in them as we have seen the exit polls have proven wrong or were eschewed in the last presidential elections.

It is not rocket science, it is simple truth and we must face it, America is too ignorant and fearful to elect a Barack Hussein Obama. Once again we can witness the results of a failing education system and an American Idol addicted country that is over fed under educated and the most powerful constituency in the world but wasted power at best.

As progressives we must try and change the minds of the fearful church going middle class, if possible, and it is a tough uphill road we tread. Yet it is imperative that we get out and explain to as many voters as possible that Barack is a good Christian man; that is our only hope.

Will they listen?

Perhaps not, but it is too important a time to let the Republican cult of "We do not care if Iraq goes on for one hundred years," club to win. The McCain policy is Bush policy and four more years of that and this country is finished.

Let us brain storm and try different methods to reach the fearful and xenophobic or we will relinquish any hope for a true American resurgence. Obama may be the best candidate in years but his nomenclature is too Islamic and perceptions like that are not easily altered.

I pledge to support Obama with all my energy and heart if picked, and it looks like he will be picked, and I will try with all I have to alter the dark perceptions Americans feel over his name but I have serious doubts they will change in the time allotted...

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Robert W. Barker [send him email] is a writer, professional photographer and travel aficionado from Eureka Ca. His work is carried on many web sites around the globe, a first novel recently copyrighted in the library of Congress, is soon to be published.

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