Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee last week, Obama greeted his largely Jewish audience, which has had doubts about his support for Israel, some fed by anonymous e-mail, by acknowledging, "Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative e-mails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country. A few of you may have gotten them. They're filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for President. And all I want to say is, Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening."
What’s your read on the intention?
Has the candidate Barak Obama openly denounced the positions of the supposedly-fictional version? Or has he been careful to avoid doing that? If the "fictitious" version's positions aren't shared by the candidate, the candidate should be able to contradict them point by point. Of course, I suspect that candidate Obama's positions are a lot closer to the "fictional" version than he'd like to let on.