A couple of weeks ago, as families streamed out of Charlotte's First Baptist Church into the warm fresh air of a North Carolina Sunday, a middle-aged parishioner wandered over and tapped me on the shoulder.

He had seen me interviewing others about presidential contender Barack Obama. As a devout Christian he had a question: "Did ya'll know Obama's a Muslim?"

"I think he's hiding it," said the man, who had just heard the Rev. Phil Hoskins preach that only Jesus, and not Muhammed or Allah, can guarantee admission to paradise.

The fact that Obama has belonged to a Chicago church for many years, that he was married by its minister, that he'd had his children baptized and had spoken from pulpits across the Bible Belt during this presidential primary season, mattered not.

This man had seen the e-mails, the ones that weave truth so cleverly with lies, the ones that say Obama's father was a Muslim (true); his middle name is Hussein (also true); that he attended an Islamic school, a madrassa, in Indonesia (false); that he had asked to be sworn into the United States Senate on a Qur'an rather than a Bible (utterly false); that he refuses to recite the American oath of allegiance (false to the point of ridiculous).

Now, where these e-mails originated is unknown. But it is pretty obvious who stands to gain if they are believed: Obama's opponents in the Republican party. The fact that the messages are aimed principally at American evangelical Christians and American Jews is no accident either.

Here's why: In swing states like Pennsylvania and Florida, there are significant concentrations of Jewish voters, the vast majority of whom have traditionally voted Democrat.

That's a trend that frustrates Republicans, who see themselves as generally more hawkish and unstintingly supportive of Israel.

The play for the Jewish vote

In Obama, Republicans see a chance to gain more of the Jewish vote while shoring up their evangelical constituency at the same time. Most evangelical Christians in this country see the establishment and expansion of the Jewish state as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, and overwhelmingly support Israeli policies.

So, at every opportunity, politically militant conservatives portray Obama as beholden to Muslims and cold, even hostile, to Israel.

They have accused him of planning to collude with terrorists because he has said he would meet with the leadership of Syria or Iran to discuss peace in the Middle East.

Even President George W. Bush seemed to join the attack this past week when, in a speech to the Israeli Knesset, he tacitly compared Obama to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister infamous for appeasing Adolf Hitler.

Conservatives also hold up Obama's association with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former president Jimmy Carter's national security adviser and an Obama confidant. (Brzezinski favours including Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that now forms the government, in peace negotiations and Carter has labeled Israel's treatment of Palestinians akin to "apartheid.")

Knowing the tensions that exist between American blacks and the Jewish community, they pounced when Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, damned America for supporting Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

And they could barely contain their glee when an adviser to the leadership of Hamas, Ahmed Yousuf, told a New York radio show "We hope he (Obama) will win the election."

Showing his flag

Instantly, that was translated into some sort of formal endorsement, as though Obama had sought out the support of radical Islamists.

One conservative attack ad, featuring an American flag whose colors gradually fade to nothing, intoned: "The leadership of Hamas is so excited about the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president, they have openly endorsed him and complimented his new vision for America. So when Barack Obama tells you he offers change you can believe in, ask him to show you HIS flag."

The attacks have been so relentless that a coalition of some of the biggest Jewish organizations in the U.S. was persuaded to issue a joint statement condemning the e-mail smear campaign.

Now, the candidate himself, understanding what is at stake, is pushing back

Obama has emphasized his Christianity, distanced himself from Carter and Brzezinski and pronounced Iran the gravest threat to the state of Israel, vowing to eliminate that threat.

He has also authored opinion pieces for Israeli news outlets, granted interviews to Israeli reporters and reached out to Jewish leaders here, consistently describing Israel as a friend and stalwart ally.

But, consistent with his message of changing Washington politics, Obama has suggested a greater emphasis on diplomacy and less militarism in America's Middle East policy.

He has even suggested it is permissible to disagree with a close ally like Israel, something you don't often hear from someone running for president.

He told a group of Jewish leaders in Cleveland that there is "a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel, then you're anti-Israel," the reference being to one of Israel's hardline, rightist parties.

"That," said Obama, "can't be the measure of our friendship with Israel."

He goes on

In an interview with The Atlantic magazine, he said this: "I think that the idea of a secure Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea, and a necessary idea, given not only world history but the active existence of anti-Semitism. That does not mean that I would agree with every action of the state of Israel."

He also told the magazine he'd even been accused within Chicago's black community of "being too close to the Jews."

Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he added: "What I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions."

Reasonable? Not to Republicans. House minority leader John Boehner and his colleague, Rep. Eric Cantor, immediately announced Obama had called Israel itself a "constant sore."

Many Jewish voters here, of course, aren't buying the conservative attacks.

"From our pro-Israel point of view, he's right on the money," says Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street, which bills itself as a "pro-Israel, pro-peace" political action committee here in Washington.

In any event, says Ben-Ami, "The vast majority of American Jews actually vote for issues other than Israel. Imagine that! We vote based on social policy, health, gay marriage, and equality issues."

But while that may be true, Obama does appear to be struggling, at least for a Democrat, where the Jewish vote is concerned. In a recent Gallup Poll, 61 per cent of Jewish voters surveyed said they would vote for Obama if he is the Democratic nominee. It is an impressive number but it is far below the traditional support level of around 80 per cent.

An important difference

These numbers aren't lost on Obama's opponents. A shift of 20 percentage points can matter a great deal in places like Pennsylvania and Florida.

At the same time, though, there are signs that Obama's charm offensive may be working, at least in Israel itself.

"He has somewhat succeeded in making people in Israel understand he is not in any way hostile or unfriendly," says Shmuel Rosen, Washington bureau chief for the Tel Aviv based newspaper Haaretz.

Rosen says the Israeli establishment is uncomfortable with the idea of an American president meeting directly with the Iranian leadership, but where Hamas is concerned he says Israelis might welcome an emphasis on diplomacy.

"Israelis tend to be more pragmatic in their approach in many ways. Most Israelis want Jewish Americans to understand that certain compromises have to be reached."

Adds Aluf Benn of the Israeli Institute for International Security Studies, "I don't think there is strong anti-Obama sentiment in Israel." But then, he says, "Israelis don't vote in U.S. elections."