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Majority of Republicans believe that Obama is a Muslim

And 38 per cent compare him to Hitler.

By George Eaton Published 25 March 2010 14:38

We've all long suspected that the Republicans, consumed with hatred for President Obama's health-care reforms, have shifted sharply to the right. Now, thanks to a new Harris poll, we have the data to prove it.

Here are some of the key findings:

57 per cent of Republicans (and 32 per cent of Americans) believe that Obama is a Muslim.
45 per cent of Republicans (25 per cent of Americans) agree with the Birthers that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president".
38 per cent of Republicans (20 per cent of Americans) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did".
24 per cent of Republicans (14 per cent of Americans) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist".

How naive Obama's dream of a "post-partisan" politics now appears. Any possibility of a more bipartisan approach has been destroyed by a series of sinister smear campaigns.

The US today is far more fractured than it was under George W Bush, and is only likely to become more so in the run-up to this year's midterm elections.

Liberals most now confront a form of political extremism that little can appease.

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Tags: Barack Obama

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View the discussion thread.

12 comments

Thu, 2010-03-25 17:51 — Sam (not verified)

Anyone who claims that a large proportion of this visceral hysterical ignorant hatred of Obama isn't fuelled by racism is simply wrong. That 20% of Americans just under 62 million people) believe that he is doing most of the things that Hitler did is too bizarre to comprehend.

Thu, 2010-03-25 19:03 — Mark (not verified)

I'm not too surprised that these views are so prevalent. The country seems so much more partisan than at any point in modern history. Just look at the number of GOP votes Medicare got in the 1960s compared to this week's roll call.

The way the ideological hated is projected onto Obama himself is simply scary though. As a Brit living in New York last year, I found myself in conversation with an otherwise very pleasant girl who was enthusiastically pursuing the "Obama may be the Antichrist" line I thought she was being ironical for a few minutes, but it became clear that she was deadly serious. She went on to explain how she had faith that "he would be stopped" as I slowly edged away.

These views are seeping into the ultraright corners of the British press too. Just look at Melanie Phillips or this shocking screed form the Mail's Brussels correspondent:
http://synonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2010/03/barack-hussein-obama-and-indone...

Thu, 2010-03-25 15:04 — Anthony (not verified)

Generally, one would view politics as polarized when it is on substances issues, as opposed to personal biases.

Thu, 2010-03-25 15:27 — Sue Davies (not verified)

I think this is very real evidence of how easily America could turn to facism, and there are worrying elements in the UK .. some even post on this website!

Thu, 2010-03-25 16:18 — Tom Rowlands

The american conservative movement has stopped making a grain of sense. Over the past decade it has begun to exhibit a populist strain of xenophobia of such proportions that it resembles a mass movement in a dystopian novel.

Sun, 2010-04-04 15:27 — gaetano (not verified)

most presidents can be wicked, but usually have some honesty in their hearts. Obama has NONE.

Fri, 2010-03-26 04:03 — Bob Farquhar (not verified)

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." - Albert Einstein

Fri, 2010-03-26 14:43 — Tom Rowlands

Bob Farquhar's response wins!

Fri, 2010-03-26 14:49 — Lifewarrior01 (not verified)

They say the proof is in the pudding. I'm sticking with that. His actions speak much more loudly/clearly than his words. In fact his words hold little to no substance. If people would get honest about Obama and discern rather than sip the kool-aid...they're eyes would open and they'd see Obama is indeed not on the same page with the American people.

Would I say Muslim? Not necessarily, though he won't stand for Christianity either.

Would I say, Antichrist? Not necessarily, although I can see how the Antichrist could come to such worldwide fame quickly, as Obama has proven possible.

Would I say he's not American? Not necessarily, although much conjecture still hasn't been cleared up and no birth certificate produced. A bit fishy by even the most liberal of standards.

Would I say Obama is doing Hitler-esque things? Not necessarily, although Hitler's goal was world domination and Obama has called himself a world citizen. One can only imagine what that may mean!

Fri, 2010-03-26 15:53 — Lois White Buffalo (not verified)

Obviously, you limeys haven't noticed that a different reality is emerging in the old us of a.

It is not about conservatism becoming even yet more right wing extremist (although there is a fanatic right wing fascism growing in the country.) BUT, the tea partiers have a different political creed. Those who object to the us government control of our health are a new generation of objectors. We are good ol boys and girls, rednecks, Thoreauians and a growing hodge podge of the silent majority, who are waking up to the fact that most all of our politicians and many government officials are traitors, in fact. That ours is a genocidal society, and the most deceptive and destructive tyranny that ever existed. That we object to government control over every bodily function, and the criminalization of the poor, (who will not be able to afford the OBAMA health heist), is no surprise. IT is the abolition of the last freedom we thought we had. No longer is an individual's control over their own effluent an option. There is NO option to government mandated tyranny over personal health and our bodies. First they brainwashed us and now they own our bodies? Is this a DEMOCRACY FOLKS? WOULD JEFFERSON BE SHOOTING YET? (READ HIM AND DECIDE!)

LOIS WHITE BUFFALO IS A POLITICAL DISSIDENT LIVING IN INTERNAL EXILE
under protection of the
Mid Columbian Sin Cayuse Nation

(SEEKING POLITICAL ASYLUM; INTEGRITWORKS@HOTMAIL.COM)

Thu, 2010-05-27 15:36 — melanyor

In their first neighborhood, Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers, a few neighbors said. But Soetoro usually was too busy working, first for the Indonesian army and later for a Western oil company. "Sometimes Lolo went to the mosque to pray, but he rarely socialized with people," said Fermina Katarina Sinaga, Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near the family. "Rarely, Barry [a nickname for Barack] went to the mosque with Lolo."
http://geologyonlinecourses.com/masters-degrees-in-archaeology/

Tue, 2010-03-30 14:16 — Bill Ford

Regarding the power base of Hitler and the 3rd Reich, where did the money come from to create this modern German nation that started WW2 with such panache.
Plus the US is creating the second stage of its development by being the driving force of the North American Union.