Many Kentucky Voters Misinformed About Obama's Faith

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 6:02 AM on October 27, 2008.

A poll of likely Kentucky voters finds that, "despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters -- 54 percent -- and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian." The poll indicated that "14 percent of likely Kentucky voters -- 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents -- think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith." Mahmoud Shalash, imam of the Islamic Center of Lexington, argued that the poll numbers are the result of a deliberate fear-mongering campaign:

"I am concerned that some people are spreading this rumor for political purposes, trying to exploit the anti-Islamic sentiment in this country that ties Muslims with terrorists," Shalash said. "I don't blame the ignorant bigots as much as the educated people who try to perpetrate this."

Update: Flashback: Colin Powell on Meet the Press last Sunday: "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that [Obama] is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

Tagged as: obama, faith, islam, kentucky, freedom of religion

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.