The problem with hitting Obama on live birth abortions

About a month after the November 2004 elections, I was home from college in Illinois hanging out with some of my friends from high school, and some other guys they went to college with who I didn't know real well.

None of them were very partisan, or particularly in to politics, but at some point that evening people started talking about the election, and the utter stupidity of Alan Keyes and his senate campaign that fall.  At one point, mocking his criticisms of Obama, one of them said, "Yeah, and did you know that Barack Obama supported infanticide?"  Everyone chuckled.  Everyone but me.

Actually, I said, thats 100% true.  I tried to explain, as best I could, the details of the bill that Obama had opposed, and the reasons it was needed.  A couple of them listened, but pretty soon the conversation turned to different things.  And it was clear that none of them really believed what I had said.

Beyond Alan Keyes's lack of crediblity, the reason that Obama has gotten away with his votes against protecting infants is that people simply don't believe that something so horrible happens, or that any politician would oppose such a bill.  Its outside of the normal range of believable accusations.  The media is predisposed to accept the Obama campaign lie about the wording of the bill because they just can't believe that he would ever oppose such a measure on its merits.

This presents us with a major problem.  Here we have our opponent on the record with an unbelievably damaging vote, which most of the population would be disgusted by enough to vote against him if they believed it.  Its getting them to believe it that will be the problem. 

I don't have an answer to this.  But someone needs to find one if this is going to be used effectively in the campaign.