Noonan and Parker: Obama is not a real American

Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker, prominent conservative columnists, both recently argued that Obama's greatest challenge is that he is not a true American.

Noonan, of the Wall Street Journal, claimed that

Hillary Clinton is not Barack Obama's problem. America is Mr. Obama's problem. He has been tagged as a snooty lefty, as the glamorous, ambivalent candidate from Men's Vogue, the candidate who loves America because of the great progress it has made in terms of racial fairness. Fine, good. But has he ever gotten misty-eyed over . . . the Wright Brothers and what kind of country allowed them to go off on their own and change everything? How about D-Day, or George Washington, or Henry Ford, or the losers and brigands who flocked to Sutter's Mill, who pushed their way west because there was gold in them thar hills? There's gold in that history.

Her message is clear: Those from the left are not real Americans, because they unlikely get "misty-eyed" over symbols of American pride that conservatives value. (Her inclusion of Henry Ford in this short list is notable, given his anti-Semitism and admiration for Nazis.)

More recently, Parker of the Washington Post Writers' Group was more explicit in asserting that Obama is not a real, "full-blooded" American:

"A full-blooded American." That's how 24-year-old Josh Fry of West Virginia described his preference for John McCain over Barack Obama. His feelings aren't racist, he explained. He would just be more comfortable with "someone who is a full-blooded American as President."...

Full-bloodedness is an old coin that's gaining currency in the new American realm. Meaning: Politics may no longer be so much about race and gender as about heritage, core values, and made-in-America....

It's about blood equity, heritage and commitment to hard-won American values. And roots....

Full-blooded Americans get this. Those who hope to lead the nation better get it soon.