Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency is scrambling to stem a stream of false allegations modelled on the “Swift Boat” smears that helped to defeat the last Democratic nominee, John Kerry, four years ago.

A new book written by Jerome Corsi, entitled The Obama Nation, leapt to No 1 in the bestseller lists this week with claims that the Illinois senator is a closet Muslim, a black militant and takes cocaine.

Among the same author’s other titles is Unfit for Command, a book that helped to propagate allegations from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about Mr Kerry’s Vietnam war record.

Corsi’s latest work is one of an estimated 20 books – largely hostile – that are being written about Mr Obama.

The Obama campaign issued a 41-page point-by-point rebuttal of the book this week under the heading “Unfit for Publication”. A spokesman said: “Once again, bigoted fringe author Jerome Corsi is trying to make money off of an election, spinning garbage as journalism and relying on the right-wing echo chamber to pump up sales.

“His is just one of what will likely be many more lie-filled books rushed to print this election cycle, which are cobbled together from debunked internet sources to make money and advance a partisan agenda. We will respond to these smears forcefully with all means at our disposal.”

Aides have promised to turn the tables on Corsi, digging into his own past and highlighting previous outlandish statements which suggested that the US Government had lied about the September 11 attacks and that the late Pope John Paul II had been senile.

Mr Kerry has started a website, truthfightsback.com to protect Mr Obama from being “swift-boated”, and the Democratic campaign is also hitting back hard against the charges on its own site, FightTheSmears.com.

They say the book is full of factual inaccuracies that include the wrong date for the Obamas’ marriage, as well as claims that the candidate left details such as his father’s polygamy and alcoholism out of his autobiography.

The campaign points out page numbers from Dreams from My Father where Mr Obama discussed these subjects.

The book dwells on Mr Obama’s mother marrying an African and later, an Indonesian, whom Corsi describes as “a second man of colour to be her mate”. The campaign says that this is one of many examples of offensive language that Corsi used.

He also claims that Mr Obama received extensive Islamic religious education as a boy in Indonesia that was offered only to the truly faithful.

Mr Obama is a Christian who during his early childhood in Indonesia attended both a Roman Catholic school and a state school where he received basic tuition in the Koran.

An insinuation in the book, based on no evidence, that Mr Obama uses drugs, is also dismissed. Mr Obama’s campaign highlighting a comment in which he made clear he had not taken drugs since he went to college.

Asked yesterday for a reaction to the book, John McCain smiled, saying: “Gotta keep your sense of humour.” A spokeswoman later said he had not heard the question properly and the campaign would not be commenting.

The Republican nominee has narrowed Mr Obama’s opinion-poll lead and this week had the field to himself while his rival was on holiday. His campaign announced that last month was its best yet for fundraising.

Also by Jerome Corsi . . .

Black Gold Stranglehold Alleges that oil’s status as a fossil fuel is a lie perpetrated by oil companies

Atomic Iran Questions intentions of Iranian authorities and their connections with American politicians over nuclear weapons

The Late Great USA Propounds theory that companies, Bush Administration and the governments of Mexico and Canada are working to create a “North American Union”

Source: Amazon.com

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