Obama says he is not a secret Muslim

WASHINGTON: He’s a practicing Christian — but the idea that Democratic candidate Barack Obama is an Islamic ‘Manchurian Candidate’ keeps getting injected into the presidential race, and from the oddest corners.

This week it was former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey who kept the fire going by repeatedly mentioning Obama’s Muslim forebears.

“I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There’s a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal,” Kerrey said, even as he declared his support for Hillary Clinton. Later, Kerrey told CNN he truly respects Obama and that there is a “smear campaign going on” over his Muslim links. “People are acting as if he’s an Islamic Manchurian candidate,” Kerrey said, referring to the Cold War book and movie about an American brainwashed by communists to assassinate top US politicians.

On Friday Obama brushed off the comments, saying his background could make him a better president.