Growing Number Say Obama is a Muslim

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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August 19, 2010

Growing Number Say Obama is a Muslim

A new Pew Research poll finds a "substantial and growing number" of Americans say that President Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined.

Key findings: 18% now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009. Just 34% say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. Fully 43% say they do not know what Obama's religion is.

Interestingly, the survey was completed before Obama's recent comments about the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center.

A new Time poll, completed after the recent controversy, shows 24% mistakenly believe that President Obama is a Muslim.

First Read: "These results don't many anyone look good -- Obama's political opponents (who have helped spread false information about the president's religion and birthplace), the press (which obviously hasn't done its job here, thanks to some outlets even serving as a megaphone by running false equivalency debates), and the American populace (which should be embarrassed)."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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August 19, 2010