Ohio Voter On 60 Minutes: I Hear Obama Is Muslim, Doesn't Know National Anthem

CBS 60 Minutes reporter traveled to Ohio to speak with voters ahead of Tuesday's crucial primary. Kroft found that one of the more malicious smear campaigns about Obama had reached voters in southern Ohio:

Comments

[blytzd]

Coming from Southern Ohio this doesn't surprise me. Obama could do great hings for this area but people want to buy into these idiotic smears and vote the other way. Guess what McCain will send your children to iraq and god know what Hillary plans to do (likely the same as McCain). if you are a working class man, vote Obama.

[GJM]

Seems that Obama says he wants to change or cancel NAFTA to get great things done for the people in this area------­----------­---But does he mean it--------­----------­Or does he mean what his campaign is saying to the Canadian government.

[Seattlelite]

I really wish people would take time to be more informed. Here's some truth - Obama's campaign has not contacted the Canadian government and they issued a statement saying they've not been contacted by Obama nor anyone in his campaign. This is just another smear tactic won't say it was from camp Hillary but that has not been proven but I would suspect that where it started.

[PinkoAttic]

If you really want to know what was said to the Canadian government, read a CANADIAN newspaper - or do you prefer to take Hillary's word for it because she knows who our Prime Minister is ?

[hillarysupporter]

Obama is back-tracking already. His agenda is getting the nomination, not helping
Ohio.

[CjAzure]

I saw the whole piece and the poor guy was crying before this part because his wife was sick and she had no healthcare. At least he was leaning towards Obama, even if he thought those idiotic rumors might be true. So sad that this smear campaign is confusing people in trouble who really need help!

[Seattlelite]

Good grief, this is just scary -- it's hard to believe people are this un informed. I swear it's getting to a point people should have to take a test before being allowed to vote. Question 1, is Obama a Muslim, true/false
Question 2 , Has Hillary Clinton been convicted of any crimes true/false if you get either wrong you can't vote!!

[ndolomar]

no taste is more sour than that derived from eating one's own.

all dems should be ashamed at themselves and get it together before november.

[PinkoAttic]

Tell that to the candidate who should have resigned after Wisconsin. It isn't going to get any better I'm afraid.

[KaAp]

Donaldo Macedo called what has transpired in our schools as the stupidification process (1994) ... Recall the movie Idiocracy ... Yes, right wing talk radio, and also the notion that the net provides factual information --- our inability to distinguish between opinion and fact, our inability to reason, absorb, and comprehend. Even the NY Times has been dumbed down ... It is appalling ... the fact that we do not even really discuss in horror the removal of habeas corpus nor do we deconstruct the roots of our xenophobia. I have heard that evolution is a theory ... but few people recognize scientific facts are comprised of theories ... I have heard all sorts of nonsense ... it is terribly frightening ... and we wonder why we cannot compete globally? How can we? Don't blame the poor man in Ohio, he is struggling on so many different levels blame those who helped inculcate ignorance --- they are the people who brought you the culture wars including Bush (both), Cheney, Clinton (both), and Reagan ... they are the people who hegemonically pit one group against another, and they are the people who need to be ousted from office ...
No wonder President Gore did not win in a landslide nuanced discussion cannot occur, no wonder Hillary Clinton supporters on this site for example tend to be unable to look at a larger picture or distinguish between spin and fact ... it is reprehensible ... it saddens me to see this happen to this nation ... but we have only ourselves to blame ...

[GJM]

Right wing radio hey if you had been listening since this campaign started you would know that the right wing radio and air america sounds a lot alike

[biglover]

We disagree - I won't change your mind and you won't change mine

[atlantajoe]

Liberals dumbed down education well before Reagan. The libs do not believe in failing a kid because it might lower their self esteem. Better to pass them with a 3.0 GPA and let them rot in the job market. At least they still have the self esteem!

[jhm5th]

Ah, atlantajoe, now we get to the bottom of your anger issues. Y'all are mad at the liberals because your school did not teach y'all proper grammar, but y'all got a 3.0 GPA anyhow, but it still didn't help your self-esteem. Plus, perhaps, y'all are rotting in the job market.

p.s.: "kid" is singular; "their", "them" and "they" are plural.
p.p.s.: "plural" means "more than one"
p.p.ps.: unless, of course, y'all meant for the "their", "them" and "they" to refer to the "libs" and not the "kid"; in which case, never y'all mind

[dr4Will]

Ultra left--this is what you face if obama is the candidate--you can't change it and McCan't will be president!!!

[Zentomato]

dr4Will, Ultraleft? Mi Amigo, wake up, as the ultraleft is closer to the poitical center than the neoconservative bilge is.

[rmetz74]

Polls from every major news organization show Obama beating McCain by a wider margin than Hillary would.

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08gen.htm

Nice try though.

[strifeknot]

If you'd prefer a nominee that will appease the right, why not just become a Republican? We've had enough spineless, capitulating Dems like Clinton. That's why she's losing.

[ChristianEcon.com]

"Ultra left--this is what you face if obama is the candidate--you can't change it and McCan't will be president!!!"

So what's the problem?

[Yatata]

if you go here: http://www.politicalcompass.org/ and take the short test you can find out where you really stand on the political map - the answer WILL surprise you. if you look at where American politicians stand on the issues - the answer will surprise you too, and you'll find that calling Clinton or Obama "liberal" is completely absurd. unfortunately ;)

i recommend this test to anyone planning to vote. in fact, it should be required.

[olehippi]

I wonder if the Ohio voter who stated on camera that he thought Obama was a Muslim,and that he heard he didn't know the National Anthem, actually gave 60 Minutes permission to show the rest of America how stupid he is?

[Marrob]

Big mistake on your part calling him stupid. The real fear is, how many other americans believe what he does. Wake up idiot, the republicans are at work.

[chgochefgirl]

You're so right, Marrob. There are obviously enough Americans like him to put W. in the WH, which doesn't bode well for the future.

[EvoMan]

He's not stupid. He's just a hard working man who is misinformed. I'm sure he knows the facts now.

I said this awhile back and I'll say it again. If you're a Clinton supporter and you've ever passed on the nonsensical Muslim email, you need to be ashamed. Really ashamed.

[rpmcestmoi]

Hard-working is not a recommendation for good citizenry and intelligent parsing of data. One has a responsibility to discover what is true or not by applying intelligence diligently. Period.
"Hard working person" does not forgive the result of electing idiots like Bush or non-entities like Reagan. Every one of us have a responsibility. Period.

[Seattlelite]

If anyone receives that email I hope they'll do what I did. A neighbor sent it to me and several people she knew. I did a "reply to all" debunking the email along with a link from CNN stating is was bull. She wasn't to pleased I replied to all her friends showing how stupid she was but I didn't care and told her so. I added that as she only reads the Enquire she perhaps should not send information regarding either candidate or politics. Good thing about this encounter, I realized I done with dumb people, no longer will I just sit by and listen to their dumbness I'm cutting them off.

[atlantajoe]

Yes, he let 60 minutes run the part where he stated he will vote Obama!

[transendentilist]

He said he was thinking about it, then said he had some issues with obama that he can't get past. I live in Ohio, and people like the guy in the video would never vote for a black man. And they would never vote for a woman.
I guarantee you that once this guy is alone in the voting booth, he will vote for a white male conservative. I know these types of people. I have been dealing with them for a large part of my life. I got out and saw the rest of the country, and a few other countries, but I'll bet you anything, that this guy has never been out of his hometown.

[BetterAmerica]

This is just a little taste of what's to come if Obama is the nominee. Americans have a streak of intolerance that will be much more pronounced when the GOP gets started.
Both Obama and HRC would have a rough time when the GOP unleashes their attacks. But I think HRC has a better chance of surviving it.

[blytzd]

The best thing about Obama running is that it will leech all racists out of the swamp, I mean the GOP and Dems.

[mmerose]

My experience with my family of Conservatives Without Conscience (see John Dean's book) is, this actually amounts to nothing, since these people are impervious to facts. It's not ignorance, and there is no logical thought involved.

The only thing to do is shrug it off and move on.

[GeoNorth]

Chillicothe is achingly close to Kentucky. This says much.

[GJM]

You haven't been to or through Kentucky lately "a lot of rich northerners buying cheap land to set up their big horse ranches

[PinkoAttic]

That's been the way for quite a while. It's still Appalachia though. Kind of like buying a mansion in the Bronx - sounds impressive, but you still have to go outside.

[atlantajoe]

Is 100 miles achingly close?

[transendentilist]

You are absolutely right. The southern part of Ohio is dominated by hillbillies, and wasps. They are some of the most ignorant people in America.

[PhDcommonsense]

This is a sad testiment to our Electorate out there, when you have people who neither read, cruise the Internet, or just have conversations with their friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. This is the reason why only a few shrewd people in the United States can affect an election with just a few people and a pack of lies.

One would think with the advent of the Internet and 24 hours news cylce people would hear and see something.

This is how the Bush/ Karl Roves of the world were able to divide the country and cause a weak majority of people to be for this war. At that time the Newsmedia sat around and let it happen. Why, because they are also part of the Electrorate who did not do their jobs responsibly in getting the news out to the people and having the guts to say 'WAIT A MINUTE, LETS EXAMINE THIS!"

The newsmedia tries to call the election and a large portion of the electorate lets them do it. Then they cry later about no jobs, losing homes, etc. When all it would take is to vote some of all of our elected officials out office if they are doing the will of the people. Stop letting others call things for you when your gut tells you otherwise. How much HEALTH care and job creation could be taken care of with the money spent on the Iraq war to rebuild infrastructure, going green, VERSUS what was spent on the IRAQ War?

Did anyone notice the Iranian President's visito to Iraq? Bush Administration just gave Iran a gift that 10 years of fighting with Saddam would have never given them, CONTROL OF IRAQ in the long run. No matter how much McCain doth protest. As Barack Obama quite frequently says, but no one hears. The are no real good options for Iraq at this time.

[GJM]

No this is a sad testiment to the press, that in order to continue their constant mumblings that Obama is being fired on, had to go find one person that was saying what they wanted to portray. Those of us who are against Oama as the candidate have substantive reason for not wanting him as our candidate and it is the desire of the press to smear Hillary.

[LuckyBlessed]

Amen PHDCommonsense,
I was asking for negative leaders, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, then I asked for examples of positive leaders. I had a young man say most people think Hitler was a great leader.

[GJM]

You would think! but it seems that no one hear seems to have heard the long line of lies that are coming out of the Obama campaign "Canada"

[Boboday555]

Why are we, as a nation, ignoring the white elephant in the room?
Since President Cheney and his toady George Bush took control of the country in 2000 they have done everything in their power to divide America!
They’ve done such a good job that I consider any supporter of Cheney/Bush to be traitors to America and her Constitution and I’m sure they feel the same about me.
AND since most Loyal Bushies hail from the confederate South, why don’t we all just admit this nation will never ever be ‘One Nation' under’ anything ever again and just go our separate ways?
What say we Real Americans allow the South to Secede form the Union again?
The confederates don’t like America as she is.
This is why they’ve systematically tried to burn the Constitution since reconstruction, why they’ve consistently painted all Democrats as the enemy and why they still refer to anyone from the North as ‘Yankees’.
BUT, to be fair, we Real Americans don’t really like their gun, NASCAR and Walker Texas Ranger based society either.
So what say we just cut our losses and go our separate ways?
Trust us confederates, we won’t stop you this time.
We Real Americans have come to realize that letting you confederates back in after the ‘War of Southern Treason’ was the biggest mistake America has ever made!!!

Remember:
“If At First You Don’t SECEDE, Try, Try Again!”

[atlantajoe]

The north did not let the south back in, they forced them back in.

[woundedduck]

Why doesn't 60 Minutes talk to people in northern Ohio? They're educated, articulate, and much more left leaning than southern Ohioans. I mean Chillicothe may as well be Mississippi. I doubt the guy in the clip graduated from high school. And reading? Forget reading. Southern Ohioans get their news from "the tv," not from words.

[atlantajoe]

That is most likely why this guy would vote for Obama, he is uneducated and wants gov't to take from the rich and give to him. As far as northern Ohio goes, they might be a bit smarter but they did elect Kucinich so they are not exactly on their way to a MENSA meeting.

[Boboday555]

As opposed to your brilliance which put an AWOL Coward in MY White House???
Let me guess, we Democrats have just "MISUNDERESTIMATED" your President's genius right?
Moreover, isn't helping out the poor one of the tenants of Right-Wing Evangelical Fundementalcase Christianity?
Or does that brand of liberal Christian crap just look good on paper?

Now go enlist...y­our AWOL President needs you in Eye-Raq STAT!!!
President AWOL would send his own daughter and his future son-in-law to the Iraq Oil War, but they're partying in Boca!

[chgochefgirl]

The point is that there are a lot of people like this guy who aren't that educated but are out there voting and then what we get is George W. Bush. These are the people that we need to pay attention to because they're voting with false information. People like Ann Coulter (ha ha it's so funny to say B. Hussein) spread their bogus bullshit and are counting on guys like this to believe it.

[oliviasmommi]

Ummm...I am from Chillicothe and I of course can not speak for all of us but, I can speak for myself and my family, and we are all educated and well informed. The fact that you stereotype all of Southern Ohio is as bad as the man in the clip believing all of the nonsense he has heard.

[atlantajoe]

They are progressives, they are allowed to sterotype.

[PinkoAttic]

That's what happens when you set up next to West Virginia. At least meats on barbecues are identifiable in southern Ohio (well some of them, anyway)

[LeaderofMen]

Karl Rove: the man is also looking for work. Since he has precisely the mentality you look for in voters he's ripe and ready for a job in your office.

He'll be easy to educate since he already has the qualifications you seek: MORON.

[eddiestardust]

Of course we don't know if there was another flag that was located outside of the cameras field of vision perhaps?

[Boboday555]

That man-child last night on 60 Minutes is why the un-American neo-con movement has gained such a stronghold in this nation.
A huge part of this nation is peopled with children masquerading as adults, who rely on FOX-NEWS for their news between watching the latest NASCAR event or Walker TexASS Ranger of course.
There shouldn't be a National ID Card to get into a polling place; there should be a “National IQ Card” instead.
If you still refer to the Civil War as "The War of Northern Aggression", you can't vote...and should be exiled!
If you think George W. AWOL isn't a gutless born to privilege coward...y­ou can't vote!
If you call yourself a Christian AND still support the torturing of other human beings...n­ot only aren't you a Christian, but you can't vote!
If you STILL think Senator Obama is a Muslim...y­ou can't vote!
If you can't find your own Red, Slave State on a map, you can't vote!
If you think the Iraq Oil War isn't being fought for the benefit of Big Oil and Halliburto­n...you can't vote!

I say we Real Americans try to get "National IQ Card" Legislation passed!
Who's with me???

[atlantajoe]

He said he was voting Obama you idiot so you can rail on Bush all you want. Those that should not vote are those blood suckers that do not pay any federal income tax.

[mrman]

Loving your post! Well said! Where's the IQ test and a No. 2 pencil?