False rumors about Obama sway Findlay voters: Report - Tuesday, July 01, 2008 | Courier Electronic Edition

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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

False rumors about Obama sway Findlay voters: Report

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story appeared on the front page of The Washington Post on Monday under the headline,"In Flag City USA, False Rumors About Obama Are Flying." It was also distributed to 669 news organizations in 56 countries, including The Courier. An editorial and related letters to the editor are on Page A4.

By ELI SASLOW

The Washington Post

On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead. Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot. He took one trip to Washington in 1989 — best vacation of his life — and bought a statue of the Washington Monument that he still displays in a glass case in his living room.

He believes a smart vote is an American's greatest responsibility. Which is why his confusion about Barack Obama continues to eat at him.

On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service.

But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It's like you're hearing about two different men with nothing in common," Peterman said. "It makes it impossible to figure out what's true, or what you can believe."

Here in Findlay, a Rust Belt town of 40,000, false rumors about Obama have built enough word-of-mouth credibility to harden into an alternative biography. Born on the Internet, the rumors now meander freely across the flatlands of northwest Ohio — through bars and baseball fields, retirement homes and restaurants.

Faced with polling that shows about one in 10 Americans thinks Obama is Muslim, the candidate's campaign has launched an aggressive effort to discredit rumors and clarify Obama's past.

It created a "Fight the Smears" Web site and a new television ad that reiterates Obama's Christian faith, patriotism and family background. Dozens of volunteers have been sent to Ohio five months in advance of the election so they can spend extra time educating voters.

But on Peterman's block in Findlay, the campaign's efforts may already be too late. A swing voter who entered this election leaning Democratic, Peterman faces a decision that is no longer so simple as a choice between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, he said. First, he must pick the version of Obama on which he will stake his vote.

Does he choose to trust a TV commercial in which Obama talks about his "love of country"? Or his neighbor of 40 years, Don LeMaster, a Navy veteran who heard from a friend in Toledo that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin?

Does he trust a local newspaper article that details Obama's Christian faith? Or his friend Leroy Pollard, a devoted family man so convinced Obama is a radical Muslim that he threatened to stop talking to his daughter when he heard she might vote for him?

"I'll admit that I probably don't follow all of the election news like maybe I should," Peterman said. "I haven't read his books or studied up more than a little bit. But it's hard to ignore what you hear when everybody you know is saying it. These are good people, smart people, so can they really all be wrong?"

Peterman bought his single-story house here in 1959, a few months after he left the Air Force and married. His wife, Mildred, had grown up in Findlay, and they never considered moving anywhere else.

On College Street, the couple found all the hallmarks of America's heartland: a house for $9,000; a neighborhood where their two boys, one handicapped, could play outside after dark; a steady "pencil-pushing" job up the road for Jim at Cooper Tire headquarters.

The neighborhood built up around them. Leroy and Wanda Pollard came in 1962, drawn from southern Ohio by a booming auto industry that offered Leroy plenty of work as a mechanic. Mary Dunson bought the place next door in 1963. Don LeMaster, a police officer, moved in up the street with his wife, Margaret, in 1970.

Every newcomer to the block was white, working-class and Midwestern, and the neighborhood jelled easily. They baby-sat for one another. They complained to one another about their teenagers. They helped raise one another's grandkids. In all, seven different families have lived on the same block of College Street for at least 35 years.

"We all just found a great place at a great time," Leroy Pollard said.

Peterman hung the American flag on his porch first, in 1960, and the rest of College Street followed his example. By 1980, patriotic displays had grown into an unspoken contest of one-upmanship. Sixty flags planted in one yard on Memorial Day; a living-room window painted red, white and blue; a Buckeye tree decorated with Christmas ornaments celebrating Americana; a gigantic plastic unicorn perched on a front porch and draped in an American flag.

The entire block — and, soon, the entire town — shared in unabashed pride and gratefulness for the country that had given them this place. In 1968, a local congressman persuaded the House of Representatives to officially declare Findlay as Flag City, USA.

But with their pride came a nasty undercurrent, one that Obama's candidacy has exacerbated: On College Street, nobody wanted anything to change. As the years passed, Peterman and his neighbors approached one another to share in their skepticism about the unknown.

What was the story behind the handful of African-Americans who had moved into a town that is 93 percent white? Why were Japanese businessmen coming in to run the local manufacturing plants? Who in the world was this Obama character, running for president with that funny-sounding last name?

"People in Findlay are kind of funny about change," said Republican Mayor Pete Sehnert, a retired police officer who ran for the office on a whim last year. "They always want things the way they were, and any kind of development is always viewed as making things worse, a bad thing."

When people on College Street started hearing rumors about Obama — who looked different from other politicians and often talked about change — they easily believed the nasty stories about an outsider.

"I think Obama would be a disaster, and there's a lot of reasons," said Pollard, explaining the rumors he had heard about the candidate from friends he goes camping with. "I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist (pastor) who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."

Said Don LeMaster: "He's a good speaker, but you've got to dig deeper than that for the truth. Politicians tell you anything. You have to look beyond the surface, and then there are some real lies."

Said Jeanette Collins, a 77-year-old who lives across the street: "All I know for sure about Obama is that we're not ready for him."

Only one man on College Street remains open-minded, and recently even Peterman has started to sway. Like most of his neighbors, he dislikes McCain for his stance on the Iraq war and would like to cast his vote for a president who will bring the troops home. But on a recent visit to his son's auto shop, Peterman overheard misinformed customers talking again about a Muslim in the White House.

"I don't know. The whole thing just scares me," Peterman said. "I'm almost starting to feel like the best choice is not voting at all."

So far, those who have pushed the truth in Findlay have been rewarded with little that resembles progress. Gerri Kish, a 66-year-old born in Hawaii, read both of Obama's autobiographies. She has close friends, she said, who still refuse to believe her when she swears Obama is Christian. Then she hands them the books, and they refuse to read them. "They just want to believe what they believe," she said. "Nothing gets through to them."

The new advertisement running in Findlay, in which Obama is pictured with his white mother and white grandparents as he talks about developing a "deep and abiding faith in the country I love" while growing up in the Kansas heartland, is dismissed by residents of College Street as the desperate lies of another dishonest Washington politician.

And they say that Obama's moves to put distance between himself and the Muslim community, with his campaign declining invitations to visit mosques and Obama volunteers removing two women in head scarves from the camera range at a rally in Detroit last week, are just a too-late effort to disguise his true beliefs.

For the past month, two students from the University of Findlay have spent their Tuesday nights walking from door to door in the city to tell voters about Obama. Erik Cramer and Sarah Everly target Democrats and swing voters exclusively, but they've still experienced mixed results. Sometimes, at a front door, they mention their purpose only to have a dozen rumors thrown back at them and the door slammed.

"People tell us that we're in the wrong town," Everly said.

Soon, on a Tuesday night, they'll walk down College Street — past the American flags, past the LeMasters, past the Pollards — and knock on Jim Peterman's front door. They will ask for two minutes of his time, and Peterman will give it to them. He will listen to their story, weighing facts against fiction. For a few minutes, he might even believe them.

Then he'll close his door and go inside, back to his life. Back to his grocery store, back to his son's auto shop, back to the gossip on College Street. Back to the rumors again.

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11 Comments (2 pages)

Latest comments listed first.

anne wrote:

false rumors about obama in findlay

It is not surprising that many people in Findlay, Ohio, are rejecting facts that run counter to their preconceived notions about the world and the people in it. The very fact that Japanese business people and new
African-American residents were greeted with skepticism makes the response to Obama less surprising.

This is exactly the kind of mentality that Republican scare tactics and swift-boating have targeted since Richard Nixon's time. And it is also proof that we can't wait for everyone to change their thinking in order for progress to ensue.

Sunday, July 06, 2008 1:10:24 PM

Mark Boze wrote:

Obama "Hit Job" on Findlay

Having grown up in another small town in Ohio, I must say that I am very proud of that up bringing. Having been to Findlay and having the pleasure of meeting many people of your community, it was a total "Hit Job" by the Washington Post.
Eli Saslow's article could easily have been about any one of the big cities like Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles or any another small town in America. Word of mouth is "THE" way of life, in America.
Remember back to the 7th grade and playing "operator" by the time the message got to the end it was distorted. Mr. Saslow, (and I use that word loosely) must have been at the end of the phone line. Not much truth and a distorted sound from what was really said.
Front Porch discussions are something that we have in Small Town America. Not all of them are factual, in fact most are not. Is that any different than the current candidates running for office.
I suggest that if Jim Peterman had the spin doctors that Barrack Obama has, he would be the candidate for President, and not Mr. Obama. I find it a sad statement on today's society when someone has a discussion and their words are often twisted.
Much like this article was to be about "Flag City U.S.A." and turned into a bad smear job.
Interesting that what started out as a Salute to American values has been twisted into an Obama campaign tool.
Interesting how the article mirrors Mr. Obama's campaign strategies, preach change and understanding but provide no substance or plan.
Wonder why when small town America speaks out about what has been said, it is with apprehension.
I pray that the "Hit Job" is not on America, and we wake up to what is in front of us. America is taking this hit not Findlay. Stay true to our beliefs, find out the facts, and speak only the truth.
God Bless the USA and all of its small towns that have made America great.
Vote for the American values that have made this country great. Protect, Honor, and Serve sounds like my kind of candidate and my kind of neighbor.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008 3:54:26 PM

sara wrote:

Obama is a racist

Are we going to beleive Obama's spin doctors or are we going to beleive our lyin' eyes?

I saw Obama's "Christian" preacher and it is the closest ideology and hate one could get next to the Nation of Islam. There is nothing Christian about Obama's "church." People were not born yesterday. We know racism when we see it. We know Marxist anti-Americanism when we see it. I am not voting for any racist - no matter his color.

And white voters - stop talking to Obama's media representatives. They are only trying to smear and manipulate you.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008 1:57:03 PM

Larry Ray wrote:

Allleged rumors about Obama story

As a former resident of College Street(being myself of below average intelligence) and an independent thinker,I agree with the great majority of my Findlay neighbors. Mr. Obama lavishly political expediency(perhaps pathalogical lying) depending on his audience. It is obvious to me he has poor judgement and is manipulated by left-wing confused individuals. The Courier's "Hit Job" editorial was a bullseye in my humble opinion.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 11:01:20 PM

Albert Laux wrote:

Rumors or facts? Find your own truth!

If you have any common sense you will get your facts from real sources and don't give this 'shot in the dark news story' any more attention than it deserves.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 10:52:51 PM

Darrell K. Myers wrote:

Rumorus about Obama

It seem's as though Leory Pollard has stuck his foot in his mouth over and over. He understands Mr. Obama is from Africa by rumours by his friends did he check this out to see if it was true? How about bringing his family over here from Africa illegally does he know this to be true? "And then there's the Muslim thing" What did he mean by that statement? Has candidate Obama every been associtated with radical Muslim's in the past? Fact or Fiction? It sound's to me that people are afraid of an African American and Muslim's and they are not all radical just like Christian's they are some radical Christian's and other radical religion's. We all know that United States of America look's racist because every president of the United States is white caucassion. I know that it is time for us to get a President that is of another race and a women into the Presidency if they are qualified like everyone else. I won't be voting for Obama because I have my mind made up to vote for John McCain and he has many year's of Government Service in the United States of America. He already knows how to do things in our government. I strongly believe Presidential Candidate John McCain will get us out of Iraq sooner than anyone else.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:49:30 PM

patsyk wrote:

Mr. Steinmetz

I am so happy that you and your enlightened views no longer live here in Findlay. It's better that you live away from gap toothed uneducated closed-minded hicks like the rest of us in Findlay. If only we could all be so intelligent.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 2:03:06 PM

Christopher Steinmetz wrote:

rumors in flag city

The Washington Post article reveals a painful reality: Northwest Ohio is not viewed as a center of enlightened thinking by the rest of the country. I grew up in NW Ohio, and after spending time outside the area I learned there were other ways of thinking, of looking at the world. Now I can only try to keep from staring in amazement and keep my jaw from dropping when I hear the comments and opinions of some of my Ohio relatives. Cluelessness is an epidemic.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:58:59 PM

Stella Dudash wrote:

I am going to Vote for Barack Obama

I don't know why so many people don't understand that some of these rumors may have been started by the republican party. Or even Ms. Clinton's people working on her campaign to smear Obama's name. Do you recall that when Ms. Clinton said that they were under fire "bullets" that she had to eat her words because they were all lies!!!
What I would love to see is Obama coming to town with his flag pin on and his birth certificate in pocket walking into the homes of the people listed in the article, meeting with their neighbors. I would laugh!
I think that would make a world of difference.

Then I think he should go to a church for mass (I'm Catholic) with his whole family. I would love to see that too!!!!!!
It would make it a little harder for those idiots who believe their friends who don't even read. They would rather spread rumors.

I wish Barack Obama would come to Findlay, I would give him a big hug and kiss on the cheek. I would also say God Bless you and help you to be the best President we've had in the last century.

Stella

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 10:39:21 AM

Judith Dillon Brandt wrote:

Obama article

This article enrages me. First of all, my beloved city of Findlay is NOT a "rust belt town". May cities would love to have the attributes of Findlay.
Next, you have to consider The Washington Post. Is is just another liberal left-wing rag that is so prevalent today? Also, remember, this article is just one person's opinion. So, think for yourself and get the facts. Personally, the thought of Obama as president scares the socks off of me. The next election is the most important one in our lifetimes - the outcome will either make or break America. Let's don't throw away what our valiant service men and women have given their lives for on foreign battlefields.
J.D.Brandt
Rocky River, OH

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 9:18:50 AM

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