Obama's Detroit visit, successful or controversial?

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There were lines of people outside of Joe Louis Arena on Monday night hours before Sen. Barack Obama was scheduled to appear.

Tammie Jackson from Southfield were second in line. She said that her husband got there at noon to get a spot for the family. She added,

"It's a historical moment. I wouldn't miss it for anything."

Their four-year-old daughter, Joya, wore a T-shirt that she had written on it, "08 Obama -- The new President!"

Al Gore joined Obama on the stage where he gave him his endorsement.

Obama said, "

I choose to believe in this great experiment in American democracy. "There is a moment in the life of every generation when that spirit of hopefulness has to come through and this is our time

As the crowd cheered Obama he told them to register, knock on doors and call their family and friends and tell them to get out and vote.

This was Obama's third visit to Michigan in a month but his first visit to Detroit in almost a year.

According to Freep.com even though the Democrats have won the state in the last four elections the polls show that support for Obama and Republican presumptive nominee John McCain about equal.

But is everyone who was there happy about the way they were treated?

As first reported in Politico.com there were two Muslim women at the rally that were not allowed to sit behind the
podium by campaign volunteers. They did not want the women’s headscarves to appear in photographs or on television with Obama.

Who is to be seen behind or near a political candidate always has to be carefully thought out to include the demographics and political correctness. There are staffers that go ahead to pick out the supporters in the crowd that will reflect the message the candidate will be giving.

Obama needed to prove he was able to connect with white voters when he won the North Carolina primary. So for pictures their he stood he in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags.

But in Michigan it was not seen as keeping his promise to transcend identity politics and to embrace all elements of America. Did they not realize that Michigan has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country? Muslims see that when Obama strongly denies that he is a Muslim it seems to imply that there is something wrong with that faith even though at times Obama has said he means no disrespect to Islam.

Hebba Aref a lawyer from Bloomfield Hills said

,“I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to. The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters.”

A volunteer asked Aref’s friend Ali Koussan and two others if they would like to sit behind the stage. They said they would but said they were with friends. They were asked if their friends looked like them and if they were dressed like them. They were wearing suits and were light-skinned. They told the volunteer that one of their friends was wearing a headscarf with her suit.

Ali Koussan Koussan, a law student at Wayne State University said the volunteer “explained to me that because of the political climate and what’s going on in the world and what’s going on with Muslim Americans, it’s not good for [Aref] to be seen on TV or associated with Obama.”

The campaign has apologized to the two women, Shimaa Abdelfadeel and Hebba Aref blaming it on the volunteers.

According to Freep.com Hebba Aref said that she has never

"been treated that way."

She said that she still supports Obama even though she is disappointed.

She would like to receive a personal apology from Obama as well as a close seat at a future campaign event.

A campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement:

"It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."