Correction--he's African-American, not African. Actually, he's half African-American, since his father was from Kenya and his white mother from Kansas. He never lived in Africa. He lived in Indonesia as a child for a few years, and that doesn't make him Indonesian. Other than that, he has lived his whole life in America. So African American is the correct description, if that's important to anyone. I don't think his racial background has anything at all to do with his abilities, and I don't think there's any question that he would "perform as equal or better than his American white counterparts."

How bout his father's Muslim background? That important?

Louie--That's a particularly shallow comment, but it's consistent with your constant efforts to try to smear him. I see you've planted that silly political hit-piece website everywhere you can. I wonder why he pisses you off so much. In any event, the answer to your question is: absolutely not. I'm sure you already knew that, but nice try anyway. Barack's Kenyan father divorced his mother and left them when Barack was 2 years old. Pretty much impossible to have had any influence at all on a 2-year old. Additionally, although Barack's father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met Barack's mother he was a confirmed atheist who thought religion to be so much superstition. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,15 46579-4,00.html By the way, Barack's father, after whom Barack was named, was pretty smart too--got his Ph.D. at Harvard, and became one of the economic or political ministers in Kenya's government. But you keep on trying to smear him, Louie--it gives me opportunities to set the record straight and show people here on RIA what you're up to, and it reveals what kind of person you are.