Millions of voters in US states crucial to this fall's presidential election received DVD copies of a controversial documentary film as advertising inserts in their morning newspapers last week, with more sent out over the weekend. The 2006 film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," which has been accused by critics of encouraging Islamophobia, was reportedly delivered, or slated for delivery this weekend, into tens of millions of households in states such as Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri and other "swing states" that don't vote consistently for either party and usually decide elections.
Republicans and their candidate, Senator John McCain, have made battling the threat posed by radical Islamists a central platform of their campaign, while presenting their Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, as being weak on the issue. Obama has also fought off persistent smear campaigns, particularly aimed at Jewish voters, that he is a "closet Muslim."
Gregory Ross, the spokesman for the Clarion group, which produced and is distributing the DVD, told the Harrisburg Patriot-News that the movie was being delivered to 28 million homes throughout the month of September and that the intention was not to sway voters to either candidate. |