Muslims barred from picture at Obama event

[yeahYeah]

Muslims barred from picture at Obama event - Ben Smith - Politico.com

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."

Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate's message.
When Obama won North Carolina amid questions about his ability to connect with white voters, for instance, he stood in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags. Across the aisle, a Hispanic New Hampshire Democrat, Roberto Fuentes, told Politico that he was recently asked, and declined, to contribute to the "diversity" of the crowd behind Senator John McCain at a Nashua event.

But for Obama, the old-fashioned image-making contrasts with his promise to transcend identity politics, and to embrace all elements of America. The incidents in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country, also raise an aspect of his campaign that sometimes rubs Muslims the wrong way: The candidate has vigorously denied a false, viral rumor that he himself is Muslim. But the denials seem to some at times to imply that there something wrong with the faith, though Obama occasionally adds that he means no disrespect to Islam.

Are muslims not allowed to have hope and change?

[tomfoolery]

Didn't you know? It's time for change, and i plan on bringing change to America...

[Joeywhat]

Anyone who believes that apology as being sincere is a fool...if they were truly sorry about it, it would've have happened in the first place.

[RobFMJ]

Wow... I gotta show some of my democrat friends this.

[yeahYeah]

I hope the muslim special interest groups go after him. It would be nice for one of the democrat love children (CAIR) to turn on the hand that feed 'em.

[digitalexplr]

Originally Posted by Joeywhat

Anyone who believes that apology as being sincere is a fool...if they were truly sorry about it, it would've have happened in the first place.

Oh, but it wasn't the campaign that did this, it was some "mis-guided" volunteers. It's just so hard to get good help now days.

How can Obama bring us together when his campaign goes out of it's way to make anyone who does not bow down to the "messiah" look like a demon?

There is no doubt that Obama will bring change to the United States. But the "change" will not be what his supporters think.

[yeahYeah]

he doesn't want to be seen with muslims...it may again call into question his hidden background.

we cant say his middle name because it's offensive.

[rufusdog]

Originally Posted by digitalexplr

Oh, but it wasn't the campaign that did this, it was some "mis-guided" volunteers. It's just so hard to get good help now days.

How can Obama bring us together when his campaign goes out of it's way to make anyone who does not bow down to the "messiah" look like a demon?

There is no doubt that Obama will bring change to the United States. But the "change" will not be what his supporters think.

Agreed big time,, it's just the beginning of the end.

[Mike in VA]

I read where this happened before with Obama, except that there were too many black faces behind him, so more white faces were added. This may be SOP for campaigns, but I'd sure be pissed if I was told to move, just because I was not the right color! This is wrong, no matter who is doing it.

[yeahYeah]

The buck stops at Obama...cant keep blaming his minions.