Clinton Campaign Admits To Sending E-Mail Claiming Obama Is Muslim

Des Moines, IA (AHN) - Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) campaign admitted on Wednesday that one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa forwarded an e-mail claiming Democratic presidential rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is a Muslim.

Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said in a statement posted on the Daily Kos Web site that the volunteer "made the mistake of forwarding an outrageous and offensive chain e-mail" and had been asked to step down.

The admission was a response to a previous post on the website by someone who identified himself as a supporter of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), claiming he received an e-mail from a Clinton county chair repeating "the 'madrassa' charges... that Obama is a mole whose intention is to make a Muslim revolution in the U.S."

Rumors about Obama's being a Muslim first emerged after a Fox News report in January said the first-term senator, who is a member of the United Church of Christ, had been educated at a radical Muslim school known as a madrassa. Anonymous e-mails titled "Who Is Barack Obama" and "Can a good Muslim become a good American" then began to circulate.

Doyle's statement comes a day after she sent out letters to journalists and Clinton supporters about reports in Iowa and New Hampshire "that Obama staffers give negative talking points about Clinton and ask which attacks are the most effective" when participants of push polls say they support Clinton. Doyle requested that supporters inform the Clinton campaign of "any unethical tactics our opponents may use."

The Obama campaign said in response that the allegation was a "flat-out falsehood," and that "push polling or tactics of confusion have no place in this campaign... Unlike some other campaigns, we want every potential Iowa caucus-goer to participate in the process, no matter who they support."

A Des Moines poll released on Monday had the two rivals neck-and-neck in the race leading to the Iowa caucus on January 3. Obama had 28 percent and Clinton got 25 percent, but Obama's 3-point lead was within the poll's margin of error.