Obama’s ‘Otherness’

Political Times - G.O.P. Is Using Obama’s ‘Otherness’ as Campaign Tactic - NYTimes.com: "If Ronald Reagan was the party’s Great Communicator, then Republicans seem to be hoping that Mr. Obama is its Great Galvanizer. The assault on Mr. Obama’s cultural affinity, the clear implication that he is neither suitably Christian nor American in his values, adds a sinister subtext to the argument against his economic agenda. It suggests that Mr. Obama is oddly indifferent to the effects of his policies on ordinary Americans because, at the end of the day, he doesn’t share their experience."

Mr. Obama’s alleged sympathy for so-called Muslim extremists who would desecrate the World Trade Center site, his socialist African ancestry and his early years in Indonesia — all of this creates a shadowy archetype that every conservative enclave, fiscal, foreign policy and religious, can find a reason to fear.