This might be a first, a salient point made by Tom Friedman. His insights are few, and far between, but here's what he wrote on Sunday:
Pssst. Have you heard? I have. I heard that Barack Obama once said there has to be “an end” to the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank “that began in 1967.” Yikes!
Pssst. Have you heard? I have. I heard that Barack Obama said that not only must Israel be secure, but that any peace agreement “must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people.” Yikes!
Pssst. Have you heard? I have. I heard that Barack Obama once said “the establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue. The Palestinian people deserve it.” Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!
Those are the kind of rumors one can hear circulating among American Jews these days about whether Barack Obama harbors secret pro-Palestinian leanings. I confess: All of the above phrases are accurate. I did not make them up.
There’s just one thing: None of them were uttered by Barack Obama. They are all direct quotes from President George W. Bush in the last two years. Mr. Bush, long hailed as a true friend of Israel, said all those things.
[Click to read more Obama and the Jews - New York Times]
I've heard the whisper campaign too, but often from Hillary supporters, which is even sadder.
Obama strikes many people as a foreigner. He's not quite American enough. His looks aren't those of an African-American per se. He was raised by his Caucasian family. He's controversial and all others find ways to digg, digg and digg snide remarks in him.
You know my candidate is Hillary. I admit Senator Obama has a lot of charisma. And President W. Bush a lot of skeletons in his closet.