...and you won't like it at all.
I was talking with a friend about having contested votes so deep into primary season, and whether it's good for the Democratic party. I claimed it was: "Everybody is talking about our candidates!" My friend asked, reasonably enough, "But are they talking about democratic issues, or just the horse race?" I decided to find out what people are talking about – or at least what they're asking about. I was shocked at the answer.
[What you probably already know about your computer:
In Firefox (and other browsers too), if you have your search on the default choice of Google, and you start typing some search terms, you'll see what other people have entered that begin the same way. So if you start typing, "movi", you'll see a compatible list of common searches: movies, movie times, moviefone, etc.]
So I tried this exercise: what search terms people are entering that start with "Barack Obama." You can try this at home too! Though I'm sure the searches will change over time – at least I really hope so. And as soon as you see what they are, you'll hope so too.
Google Search Completions for "Barack Obama"
Barack Obama biography
Barack Obama muslim
Barack Obama religion
Barack Obama bio
Barack Obama for President
Barack Obama's religion
Barack Obama campaign
Barack Obama wiki
Barack Obama website
Barack Obama wikipedia
Barack Obama issues
So far, not terrible. Looks like people want to know who he is, find his website, get some more info, maybe even volunteer for his campaign. The "muslim" and "religion" search terms weren't quite what I expected, though I do know about those emails that were circulating. The last one made me particularly happy ("issues").
But I wanted some more detail. So I entered Barack's name, and the first letter of the alphabet (i.e., "Barack Obama a"). Google gave me the most common searches starting that way:
Barack Obama a muslim
Barack Obama and religion
Barack Obama and muslim
Barack Obama and islam
Barack Obama autobiography
Barack Obama article
Barack Obama advisors
Barack Obama address
Barack Obama atheist
Barack Obama and immigration
Now I was starting to get a little more worried. What's all this focus on muslim / islam searches? The last one still made me happy ("and immigration"), but I needed to see more. So here are the top-10 search completions for each letter of the rest of the alphabet, plus some personal comments at the end.
B:
biography
bio
background
blog
birthplace
biography muslim
black
bet
birth name
C:
campaign
christian
childhood
cocaine
campaign headquarters
college
campaign website
children
campaign site
contact
D:
drug use
drugs
delegates
donations
donate
dad
dreams of my father
drug dealing
democrat or republican
donation
E:
education
email
experience
email address
educational background
election
email hoax
economic plan
email muslim
F:
for president
father
full name
flag
faith
flag pin
fundraising
father muslim
family background
for president
G:
gay rights
gear
gay issues
grammy
gays
google
gun policy
guantanamo
george will
guardian
H:
history
home page
homepage
healthcare
health care plan
hussein
home
hand over heart
high school
harvard
I:
issues
islam
is a muslim
is muslim
islamic
is he muslim
imdb
is my homeby
intership
illinois
J:
jakarta
jihad
john howard
johnson
jakarta school
jefferson davis
john stewart
jacket
jakarta indonesia
january
K:
kids
kerry
katrina
kenyan
koran oath of office
koran swearing
kanye west
kenya tribe
kenyan father
kill
L:
life
life history
life story
latest news
left handed
liberal
latest
legislation
los angeles headquarters
luo
M:
muslim
middle name
myspace
muslim background
michigan primary
muslim school
muslim email
muslim or christian
muslim ties
mom
N:
news
obama nh
name
new york
new york times
nevada caucus
new hampshire speech video
no child left behind
new hampshire video
national polls
O:
official website
on the issues
official site
on gay marriage
official
on issues
on health care
on healthcare
on religion
P:
platform
parents
profile
policies
political views
positions
president
policy
political positions
presidential campaign
Q:
quotes faith
quotes on education
[evidently not enough searches on Google starting with "Barack Obama q" to round out the top 10]
R:
religion
religious beliefs
race
religious background
religious views
record
religion muslim
religious
religious belief
S:
speeches
snopes
senator
store
senate
stance
site
stances
stickers
scandal
T:
the wire
t shirt
the audacity of hope
tv
tee shirt
trade
the muslim
time
tall
U:
urban legend
urban legends
universal health care
universal healthcare
upbringing
u2
unpatriotic
university
updates
uses koran
V:
voting record
views
video
videos
views on abortion
voting records
votes
voting record senate
versus hillary clinton
views on immigration
W:
wiki
website
wikipedia
war in iraq
wahabi
web page
who is he
wahabism
wahabi school
X:
[no frequent search terms]
Y:
youtube
youth
years old
yucca
yes we can video
years in senate
yes we can speech text
yes we can speech transcript
youtube channel
Z:
[no frequent search terms]
Now don't shoot the messenger here (either me or Google). These search terms come up, because this is what people are actually entering into Google. Some of them are pretty heartening ("donate", "economic plan", "gay issues", almost all of the "O"s and "P"s, "yes we can video"). Some are clearly honest, if ignorant, questions ("democrat or republican", "kids", "years in senate"). Some are a little puzzling ("George Will"? "is my homeboy"?!) And one ("kill") was downright chilling.
But I was shocked by how many relate to the hate-mongering, slanderous emails that everyone – everyone! -- should know by now are simply a pack of lies. The muslim connections, the lies about his elementary school being linked to wahabism, the middle name, the drug use, the supposed refusal to put his hand over his heart or to recite the pledge of allegiance or to wear a flag pin, thinking he used a Koran for his oath of office – that's what people want to know about one of the leading candidates for President.
(And if somehow you're reading DailyKos and don't already know the facts, Snopes is as good a place as any to get yourself set straight.)
So don't think that the love Obama is getting from primary state after primary state means this election is over. People are ignorant. People are scared of the "other". People are ready to believe -- and to act on -- slander and hate if it fits with their prejudices and fears (just ask my relatives who died in the Holocaust). Barack's message of hope needs a lot of help from all of us to avoid being drowned in the filth that's out there, regardless of who you support in the campaign.
(Standard disclaimer: I decided relatively late to vote for Obama, and would be happy with any Democratic candidate, especially the two that are still running.)