It looks like Obama is finally beginning to realize that his Muslim background is - or at least can be - an asset on the campaign trail. Here's hoping he'll keep on making points like this:
And although my stepfather wasn’t a practicing Muslim either, you know, I
obviously was immersed in the culture that, you know, in which Islam played a
role. I think it does make a difference. I think it makes people feel that I am
less likely to engage in stereotypes and that I’m less likely to respond out of
fear toward the Muslim world. That I’m willing and able to listen. And most
importantly, I think, in our foreign policy, that I’m dealing with people on the
basis of mutual dignity and respect. . . . one of the biggest problems with the
Bush administration’s . . . foreign policy is a general dismissiveness, a sense
that we will do what we please and we expect the world to align itself with
whatever decisions that we make.
UPDATE: Matt Yglesias provides a note of caution about politicians who've spend a lot of time in Indonesia:
"[Obama] once got in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in
his elementary school,' writes Kristof, "but a president is less likely
to stereotype Muslims as fanatics -- and more likely to be aware of
their nationalism -- if he once studied the Koran with them." One would
certainly hope so. On the other hand, the last major American political
figure to be knowledgable about Indonesia was . . . Paul Wolfowitz.
I tend to think that Wolfowitz gets a bit too much of a bad rap from liberals. Still, I'd venture to say that Wolfowitz would be a lot worse if it wasn't for the time he spent in Indonesia. Unlike some other neo-cons, I've always sensed a genuine empathy for Arabs on the part of Wolfowitz, an empathy which clearly drove his advocacy for the Iraq war. And, wait, isn't Wolfowitz dating a Tunisian woman?
