Obama site counters rumors

WASHINGTON – Heard the one about how Sen. Barack Obama won’t pledge allegiance to the flag? Now people can watch him do it – loud and clear, on tape, with his hand over his heart.

What about the rumor that he took the Senate oath of office with his hand on the Quran? As of Thursday, it’s easy to find a picture of him being sworn in with his family Bible.

That evidence, and more, appears on a new Web site, www.fightthesmears.com, set up by the Democratic presidential candidate as part of his new effort to fight damaging rumors floating around about him.

Until now, Obama’s strategy had been to ignore the rumors and hope most people would think they’re false.

But with the launch of the new site this week, the Obama team acknowledges the old approach was doing nothing to stem the tide of questionable – and in several cases demonstrably incorrect – snippets about Obama’s life.

“It’s not enough to just know the truth,” Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said, “we have to be proactive and fight back.”