I read a recent article that states the following:
On Wednesday Hudson…revealed that a group calling itself Catholics for Obama had been making push poll phone calls in support of the president’s re-election bid. Among the questions being asked, he said, was “How can you support a ‘Mormon’ who does not believe in Jesus Christ?”
The article goes on to mention some other shady things the campaign is doing in Ohio to drum up support for Obama.
What are your thoughts?
Grace for Grace 
10 comments
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October 2, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Ken
Catholics for Obama has nothing to do, by law, with the Obama campaign.
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October 3, 2012 at 10:29 am
graceforgrace
Hi Ken,
Good point. Perhaps my choice of wording was off a bit. Should have said “Obama supporters” rather than “campaign”. I’ll change the wording.
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October 2, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Casey
That “article” reads like a forwarded email…and even if the source was credible and the story true, what on earth does it have to do with the Obama campaign? Is Romney responsible for the peolpe calling Obama a Muslim too?
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October 3, 2012 at 12:31 am
LBK
As a government teacher for over 30 years I found one of the hardest things to overcome was the ignorance spewed accross the internet and the people who passed it on with little thought or corroboration. This story reeks and is reminiscent of all the “fath promoting rumors” that Mormons love to spread,
though having little relation to truth ( e.g.Mormon missionaries who were to attend a zone conference at the World Trade Center on September 11 saved by numerous miracles such as alarms not going off).
1. The original story comes from Catholic Online, a site that provides some fine articles, but is also notorious for spreading rumors and stories online that are right wing looniness. A good example is the “Obama” phone story. Catholic Online intimates that Obama is trying to buy votes by giving out free cell phones. Of Course, Catholic Online did not research the story and point out that it was a program started and funded by George Bush, not Obama.
2. Catholics for Obama and the Obama campaign are not the same. In fact, if you look at the Catholics for Obama website, you won’t see any of the garbage they are accused of saying and see that it is a legitimite organization. That should give you a clue. People who do this type of dirty politics and the donors who support them try to hide their identity (e.g. we still do not know who was responsible for the “McCain had a black baby” campaign in South Carolina a few years ago).
3. Read the story and ask yourself a few questions. How many sources? Remember reputable news organizations obtain a second source. Who is the source? Anonymous. Can you imagine that there is a Catholic out there who does not know that Planned Parenthood doest do abortions?. Doesn’t that woman’s retort sound like something a speeechwriter with time would write? Why hasn’t another organization corroborated it (passing on the same story does not count).
Please read these stories (or listen to Rush Limbaugh) with a bit of skepticism before passing the stories on. There is just too much crud on the net from all sides of the political spectrum.
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October 3, 2012 at 6:27 am
Casey
LBK, I wish I’d have thought of those words when M* posted this same story yesterday with equal credulity :). Of course, you’d have almost certainly been moderated away as I was, but stuff like this needs to be said. It’s not about what candidate you support or whether you like their positions, it’s about simple matters of credibility and evidence!
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October 3, 2012 at 10:33 am
graceforgrace
Hi Casey,
Good points. I changed the wording to “supporters”.
That being said, if what they are doing is indeed true, do you think Obama should make a statement about that stating that he doesn’t support the calls or should he turn away and let it happen? For that matter, if an organization started calling voters and asking if they would vote for a Muslim, do you think Romney should support that or make a statement for that as well?
My point with putting this up is to see what people think the Obama camp should do about this.
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October 3, 2012 at 6:59 am
Jettboy
“It’s not about what candidate you support or whether you like their positions,”
Yes it is and always will be. That is, unless you want to get out of the Political business altogether. My guess is that you support Obama. How do I know? Because you defended against the charges. Have you ever defended against the charges and lies said about Romney? If I was a betting man I would bet everything you and I own that you never have.
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October 3, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Casey
Jettboy since you’ve already up your mind about me and gone into full-on attack mode — I hope when you’re older you’ll reflect on the tone you convey when you post on the ‘nacle — there’s no sense trying to reason with you. I do, after all, have my own blog listed at ldsblogs had you cared to research what I’ve actually said. Tell you what, let’s have a debate, only you can write my part since you’ve achieved the prescience to know what I’ll say.
G4G: Glad you made that change, and I’d say that, assuming the story were proven true — and based on the evidence provided by the original article that’s far from the case right now — Obama absolutely should condemn it. Would he? I dunno; I suppose if he thought it was to his advantage in seeming to take the high road. He is, after all, a politician. I’d like to see all sides take more responsibility for telling their nastiest supporters to cool it, but with the polarization in this country everybody’s so concerned with pandering to their own base that I just don’t see it happening. I recall an instance in the 2008 campaign where a lady at a McCain Town Hall started talking about how Obama was a Muslim etc, and he quickly and pretty firmly corrected her. Small moment, but showed some character on his part. But still, that was a direct confrontation so I don’t know that it’s a useful comparison.
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October 3, 2012 at 12:37 pm
LBK
Jettboy: Its interesting that you assume Obama supporteres won’t defend improper attacks on Romney. Wrong. I responded to a number of left wing blogs that carried the charge that Romney can lie because the Church supports lying (Lying for Jesus).
graceforgrace: Catholic for Obama should issue a statement that it is not the position of the group to make such charges. In the real world of politics you do not respond to unfounded allegations unless you have to do so. The mere fact that you do makes people more aware of the accusation and you lose support. He will only respond if it appears that it might hurt his campaign. If you start responding to them, then the opposition will keep throwing more out there and you will spend your campaign time dealing with them. Look how the 47% tape ahs skewed Romney’s efforts.
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October 4, 2012 at 6:00 am
Cal
I think your point about not responding to unfounded allegations is valid, LBK.
It’s good to see you again, Jettboy.
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