Looking to Obama’s prospects in November, this is the kind of stuff that scares me. These folks are seemingly not interested in getting the facts on where Obama stands on the issues, and latch on to re-re-re-gurgitated propaganda, probably because it fits well into their biases. It also makes me wonder how prevalent these and other debunked assertions are believed and clung to, like a Doberman’s vise-like clench on the leg of an unwary postman, by those who will contribute to choosing the next POTUS.
Would these people be voting for Obama in any case?
No. In fact, I know several fundamentalist Christians who plan to vote for Obama. The OP’s sweeping generalization about a whole class of people from a video of a couple of people in rural Tenessee is extremely weak in its conception.
I take your broader point, Lib. My narrower one is, people who would so credulously swallow such stuff – would they ever vote for Obama, or for any Democrat?
ETA: My understanding is that when Obama has spoken before Fundamentalist groups, he has head-on noted that in many areas he and they will not agree, but argued that he believes he and they can work together toward common goals; and I seem to recall that he has won over many among such audiences.
No. But I could see garbage like this polluting conservative democrats who may decide to vote for McCain in the general.
Understood. But would these voters be inclined toward Hillary if she were the nominee? Or would people who blithely inhale such garbage about Obama be equally swayed by the decades-long attacks on Clinton?
No. But then, the people who believe George W. Bush was behind 9/11 will never vote for McCain, or for any Republican.
Are there any estimates of how many of these “idiot” fundamentalist Christians there are in America? I am 38 and reasonably well-travelled, was raised Catholic and served in the military, and I can say honestly that I don’t recall meeting people such as these, you know, the people that hang on every word of the likes of Pat Robertson, etc.
I don’t know, I’m probably guilty of simply riding the anti-Hillary wave here, but I’m somewhat surprised she’s doing as well as she is with Obama in the race, so no, I don’t believe these folks would turn to Hillary to thwart Obama’s chances. I believe they’d skip right over her and vote McCain.
“He’s a Muslim!” is a convenient excuse for people who aren’t comfortable voting for him and aren’t sure why. They’re not interested in the facts in the first place, so there’s not too much you can do about it.
The people in the OP’s video give us hillbillies a bad name.
My fundamentalist kinfolk are mostly for Obama. Depends on the fundamentalist, I guess. (My relatives seem mostly concerned about the economy.)
I do know of some fundamentalist churches that are all about the war on terror and supporting Israel, though. (Like the ladies in the video.) Some of them even fly Israeli flags out front.
I don’t know either, but based on Robertson’s success, there must be a lot of them.
At the bottom of this site you can find some attempts at estimating the number of fundamentalists in America. The estimate ranges from 27,000 people to 30% of the American population, depending on how the question is quantified. The latter number comes from a University of Chicago survey which asks survey participants whether they consider themselves a religious liberal, moderate, or fundamentalist. The former survey is a self-identification survey, so you can be, say, a fundamentalist Southern Baptist, but if you self-identify as a Southern Baptist, you’ll be marked in that column, rather than the “Fundamentalist” column.
From my experience, I can believe in numbers approaching 20-30%, but it depends on your definition of fundamentalist.
Two co-workers of mind were totally convinced about Obama being Muslim. They are neither Fundies nor Republicans. It took THIS Fundie Christian Republican to correct them & I’m still not sure I convinced them.
On the other hand, I also had to challenge the infamous “Obama e-mail” sent by the lady who runs my church’s prayer-chain e-mail. But she did send everyone a retraction & apology.
Anecdote does not equal data and all that, but I’ve encountered this meme about Obama swearing on the Koran, not saying the Pledge, etc from at least 5 different folks at work. All fundamentalist small town/rural midwestern Christians.
In the circles I travel in, they’re a significant minority of the population.
Democrats can be credulous, too.
Republicans can dislike George W. Bush, too.
I hate sweeping generalizations.
All of them? 
I’m not sure where people are getting that information anyway. Even Fox News points out that Obama has been a member of the same Christian church for twenty years.
Obama did not address the rumors, but described how he joined Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago two decades ago while working as a community organizer.
“What I found during the course of this work was, one, that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they come together and find common ground,” he told the congregation. “The other thing I discovered was that values of honesty, hard work, empathy, compassion were values that were spoken about in church … I realized that Scripture and the words of God fit into the values I was raised in.”
Obama regularly attends church while on the campaign trail, but seldom with reporters watching. He is known to invoke religious references in his speeches and has said he has a “personal relationship” with Jesus Christ. He often has said that religion has a place in public life and that faith and politics are not exclusively the domain of conservatives.Maybe those of you who have encountered these people could forward them the article.
Just yesterday, I heard a woman say, “I ain’t voting for anybody who sits down during the national anthem.” I asked her where she heard this and she said, “Well everybody knows that.” I pressed her and she said her husband told her that Obama always sits down whenever any plays the national anthem or when the Pledge of Alligience is said.
Does anyone know where this came from?
Probably got extrapolated from the photo/email in this page: