Fight the Smears

MSNBC has an interesting story today about how Barack Obama's image is being received in the heartland:

On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The traditional tactic in presidential campaigns is ignore rumors. Addressing every single one not only legitimizes the smear but draws unwanted attention to it. Moreover, it derails your campaign from talking about the issues and staying on message. But since the advent of the internet, rumors about a candidate are spread with the click of a button - and there is an audience of 'low information voters' who vote on instinct and gut-feelings, instead of researching the candidates.

A couple weeks ago the Obama campaign launched 'Fight the Smears.' All you have to do is forward your smear email to watchdog@barackobama.com and the campaign will determine whether or not to address it.

There seems to be a temptation to believe that heartlanders, or Midwesterners are racist. I myself am from a town 65 miles northwest of Chicago; the area is both rural and suburban and the people are kind and genuine.

They're not racist, they're just suspicious of change.

And in the face of these smears it's remarkable that Obama is leading the polls in rural Midwestern swing states like Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. We can't fight every bimbo with a computer and email forwarding, but we can fight the smears with truth.