Obama Campaign Bans Muslim Women From Podium

You may remember awhile back during the primary campaign an Obama campaign staffer was concerned that there weren't enough white people in on the podium behind Michelle Obama and shifted folks around to get the politically correct mix of colors. Well, the latest effort at staging the podium for the cameras came recently when two Muslim women in headscarves were ushered off the podium and replaced with non-Muslim people:

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who added that the volunteers were acting contrary to the campaign's policy. "We sincerely apologize for this behavior."

Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate's message.

There's a huge Muslim population in Michigan (which is why one city is called "Dearbornistan".) If he loses the Muslim vote what will his Muslim step-brother say?