Campaign Myths Busted

Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, Socialist or of the Green Party, you are faced with the mind-boggling task of filing through the media's coverage of each candidate. With every click of the remote and turn of the page, falsehoods are being "ripped from the headlines," bearing witness to new age campaigning and swayed voting. As November looms over our heads it is about time that we cleared up a few of these well-known myths.

Is Barack Obama a Muslim?
With a slip of Obama's tongue, there was a frenzy of accusations that he was of the Muslim faith. He is actually a member of the United Church of Christ, a prominent protestant sect with over one million members. After he graduated from Columbia University he was hired as the director of Developing Communities Project (DCP), a faith-based organization that exists "to continue to [develop] indigenous community residents and institutions for the purpose of solving urban neighborhood problems." These accusations stemmed from his paternal background, his father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., who was raised a Muslim but later became an atheist. His relationship with his father had been strained, he once said, "At the time of his death, my father remained more of a myth to me, both more and less than a man." This may draw the conclusion that his father had no influence on Obama's choice of religion.

Is Obama unpatriotic?
Who could forget the picture of Barrack Obama standing amongst his fellow candidates without his right hand on his heart as the National Anthem played? Many have accused Obama of not putting his right hand over his heart as a "political statement," stemming from the removal of the flag pin from his lapelas a protest against the Iraq War weeks earlier. His campaign staff dismissed the charges and "ridiculous," stating that sometimes he raises his hand and others he doesn't. Photos can be found where he does salute the flag during the Anthem. E-mails flew across the country warning Americans against the unpatriotic candidate, yet pictures can be found of many people-Bush included-not saluting that flag at one time or another.

Is John McCain really a maverick?
For those who don't know, a maverick is a lone dissenter, a person who takes a stand apart from his peers, or in this case fellow politicians. Although many have labeled McCain a maverick-his campaign staff is more than willing to go a long with it-he has voted along side the Republican Party more than 88% of the time. Even the Alaskan governor and vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has been quoted saying, "We are a team of mavericks." Yet McCain has agreed with the party on many accounts-including not passing a bill for minimum taxes, and not giving money to prosecute unsolved civil rights cases.

Is McCain a foreign policy expert?
As a senior member of Armed Services Committee, it is expected of McCain to be an expert on all things foreign policy. Yet on many certain occasions he has slipped up and made errors in policies-he directly related Iran to Al Qaeda, which has been proven false in the past. Another instance occurred when someone asked him if he would ever meet with Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Roderíquez Zapatero. McCain said he was more than willing to work with Latin American leaders. When the speaker clarified, McCain said he is "willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights, democracy and freedom." His foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, made it clear that McCain knew exactly what the question was referring to. Whether he misunderstood what was being asked or was merely avoiding the question it becomes clear that McCain may know a lot about foreign policy but it still doesn't make him an expert.

Does Sarah Palin believe that only certain parts of the country are patriotic?
This past weekend, the vice presidential candidate visited North Carolina in hopes of increasing GOP voters in the state. While she was there she said she was excited to visit the more "patriotic" parts of the country. Although she would later say that it was taken out of context, Senator Biden took it as it had sounded. He instantly became angered that she had called some parts of the country more patriotic than others. After explaining what she had meant Biden was made aware that Palin was sorry about the slip of her tongue and it is not what she was not what she meant to say. With her apology and a parody on SNL the twenty-four hour controversy came to an end.

Does Joe Biden have blue-collar roots?
After the Democratic National Convention, the media advertised Biden as a man with blue-collar roots who could associate himself with the everyday Americans. In the 1950s, Biden's father couldn't find enough work in Scranton, Penn. so he moved his family to Delaware. There the Biden's would live in a middle class environment, not blue-collar. Biden himself said in his vice presidential nominee acceptance speech, "For those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington, that was the American dream...No one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you."