Vote Hussein! Boston Globe, Aug. 8, 2010.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/08/08/have_less_give_more/
My comment:
(a) The second item from the BOTTOM in Kevin Lewis' Sunday column titled
Uncommon Knowledge: Surprising insights from the social sciences.
(b) This piece cites
Block, R. & Onwunli, C., Managing Monikers: The Role of Name Presentation in
the 2008 Presidential Election. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 40: 464-481
(September 2010).
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5705.2010.03781.x/pdf
Abstract: Given America’s widespread contempt for Islamic extremists, Obama
’s Muslim-sounding moniker could have cost him electoral support.
Consequently, anecdotal evidence suggests that Obama played a “name game”
in which he deflected suspicions about his religious background
by avoiding use of his middle name (Hussein) and minimizing the frequency
with which his opponents used it. Did the presentation of Obama’s name
affect how voters evaluated him? Results from a web-based experiment suggest
that the answer varies by political orientation.
Among Republicans and conservatives, Obama’s favorability ratings are
generally lower when his middle name is present. Name presentation had
little effect on Democrats and liberals, and moderates and independents
rated the president more favorably when his middle name appeared.
Regardless of party identification or political ideology, name presentation
had no effect on the probability of voting for Obama.