Do They Fear Him?

The attacks on Obama coming from the right seem particularly vicious and early. Is it his candidacy that they fear? Do they think his message of hope and progress makes him the most formidable candidate for the White House?

• Bill Kristol all but accuses Obama of supporting slavery.
  
• Australian PM and close Bush ally Howard attacks Obama's Iraq plan.
  
• And of course there is the Insight magazine flap that reported Obama attended a madrasa that was carried on Fox News.
  

I don't know what is in the minds of the conservatives but they seem to be savaging him much more than Clinton, the supposed front runner. One leading conservative (Pat Robertson, I think) said that a Clinton candidacy would be the best thing for the GOP as the base would be motivated.

I also note that Obama is not taking any of this laying down. He strongly criticized Fox news for carrying the insight article. He also has a strong statement for Howard:

“If he’s ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and send them to Iraq. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of empty rhetoric.”