Jewish Democratic leader in Dallas fights Obama rumors

[Ian David]

Jewish Democratic leader in Dallas fights Obama rumors

12:00 AM CST on Monday, November 3,

By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]

Almost every day, Dallas lawyer Marc Stanley gets a scurrilous e-mail about Barack Obama.

The theme is usually the same. He's a Muslim. He dislikes Israel. He attended a radical Muslim school as a child.

"He's been the victim of a salacious and mean-spirited smear campaign on the Internet," said Mr. Stanley, as he browsed the messages in his Uptown law office. "I don't know exactly where it's coming from, but I get one every day."

As chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Mr. Stanley faces a particular challenge from such messages.

His group essentially vouches for the Democratic Party to the Jewish community, and such rumors – all of which Mr. Obama strongly disavows – threaten to erode Jewish support that Democrats count on to win elections.

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"In the 1960s, both communities were trying to find our place in this country," Mr. Stanley said. "We need to reunite and to remind us all that this was a shared dream. To have Barack Obama as a presidential candidate is recognition that that dream is coming true."

More:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-stanley_03met.ART0.State.Edition2.4a8ef01.html