Obama's Bind

I guess that the "Obama is a Muslim" issue came up among voters in Southern Ohio in last night's 60 Minutes report. Now, I don't have much to say about Sen. Clinton's answer about this, which offered a little bit of wiggle room in print, but if you listen to it she pretty quickly dismisses it. What I want to hone in on is Obama's remarks:

"I have never been a Muslim, am not a Muslim. These emails are obviously not just offensive to me, as somebody who's a devout Christian, who's been going to the same church for the last 20 years, but it's also offensive to Muslims because it plays into a certain fearmongering there."

This is better than what he's said in the past, but Obama's of course in a real bind. I'm worried about these denunciations of anyone daring to suggest that someone is a Muslim, as if being a Muslim is the worst thing you can be. I recognize the political realities here, but it's troubling to buy into the demonization of a whole class of people based on religion and/or ethnicity. Obama at least acknowledged that to an extent, although I'd much rather see him say "I'm not a Muslim, but if I was that would not have any impact on my governing ability, and it's offensive for anyone to suggest otherwise. I know he can't actually say that, so this is about as close as we're going to get.

But it should be noted that there are plenty of Muslim American voters that might not be altogether happy with this constant distancing. In fact, a substantial amount of Muslims live in the swing state of Michigan. And they are speaking out about this, and you really can't blame them:

The Muslim faith group also finds itself politically isolated. Though candidates have been courting voters in this tight race, none of the three top contenders has met with major Muslim groups. Neither, they say, have major interfaith groups and politicians rallied around them to loudly condemn the anti-Islamic strategies.

"It would be good if the president and leaders of both parties would say: 'Enough. We're better than this,' " said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "It's disconcerting to me they haven't."

In addition, the immediate denunciation of the photo of Obama in Somali garb that surfaced last week risks the potential for a backlash. Kenyans don't believe Obama did anything wrong, and indeed he didn't. The Obama campaign has to thread the needle between denouncing anyone who brings these things up and alienating Muslims or Africans who may understand that any association with them has become politically toxic.

I believe that Barack Obama is a committed civili libertarian (that Jeffrey Rosen article is a must-read) who has a strong belief in equality for everyone under the law. Indeed he would be a positive President for those who are subject to increased hate crimes, like Muslims. But he really has to walk a fine line here.