Poll: Most Republicans think Obama ‘sympathizes’ with Islamist goals

No matter what President Obama says about his religion, the debate over whether he is secretly Muslim continues to rage within the GOP. And a new poll finds that Republicans are now taking that rumor one step further. A Newsweek survey released Monday found that a majority of Republicans believe that Obama "sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world."

According to the poll, 14 percent of Republicans said that from what they knew of Obama, they thought such allegations were "definitely true"; 38 percent thought the allegations were "probably true." Meanwhile, 33 percent of Republicans thought they were "probably not true" and 7 percent thought they were "definitely not true." Asked whether Obama favors the interests of Muslim Americans over other groups of Americans, 59 percent Republicans said yes, whereas 34 percent said he has "generally been evenhanded."

The poll poses some dilemmas for the GOP as the party prepares for the thick of the general-election season. For months, the GOP has maintained a significant edge over Democrats in generic congressional ballot polling — with the most recent Gallup survey finding Republicans with an unprecedented 10-point lead. The GOP also leads Dems when it comes to voter enthusiasm ahead the November election — a number that typically serves as a reliable indicator of who will turn out to the polls and who won't.

Most Americans polled have made clear that their poor opinion of Obama will determine how they vote this fall. But are rumors about Obama's religion playing into GOP enthusiasm? There are hints that Republicans might think so.

Most GOP officials have tried to steer clear of the Obama/Muslim rumors. On NBC's "Meet the Press" this month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was taking the president "at his word" that he was a Christian. "I don't think that's in dispute," he added. Last week, after a Republican National Committee official tweeted — and then removed — a message questioning Obama's religion, RNC spokesman Doug Heye told the Hotline's Reid Wilson that the party wasn't making an issue of Obama's religious beliefs. "An errant or sarcastically intended tweet aside, the RNC has never spoken about the president's Christianity because it is both crystal-clear and a nonissue," Heye said.

Yet it's one thing not to encourage a rumor and quite another actively to defend Obama. So far, no Republican has offered a full-throated defense of Obama against the Muslim rumors. Republican leaders simply see no political advantage in an issue that may be helping them to undermine Obama and the Democrats ahead of a crucial election. That's especially the case now, when a significant majority of their base seems driven by intense dislike of the president.

In 2008, John McCain learned firsthand what it's like to challenge a member of one's own party on misinformation, when he pushed back against a supporter at a town hall who tried to insinuate that Obama was an "Arab." "No, ma'am," McCain said, taking away her microphone. "He's a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements when on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about. He's not [Arab]." As McCain tried to calm the crowd down, people booed the Arizona senator, with one man yelling, "Obama is a terrorist!" You can watch the video here:

Flashbacks like this serve as a powerful reminder to GOP leaders that although they may not encourage overt, official talk of an alleged Obama connection to Islam, neither will they be especially well served by any efforts to go to bat for Obama, even in the cause of tamping down the fringe elements within their own party.

(Photo of Obama: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)