why does obama not display his middle name? Is he scared of his name?

I don’t know. Why doesn’t Hillary Clinton or John McCain?

For the same reason that Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Walter Mondale, Geraldine Ferraro, John McCain, Michael Dukakis, Jimmy Carter, and Bob Dole don’t display their middle names: there’s no need.

If there were a chance of confusion, such as with George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, he’d probably use it.

It is widely known what his middle name is. It’s on his WIki.

The Republicans made it a point to use his FULL name repeatedly in speeches a few weeks ago.

Also as others have stated no one else uses their middle name.

Do you use yours when you introduce yourself?

@cwilbur, patrick: Perfectly stated.

I’ll be the blunt one:

Are you insinuating that he has something to fear because his middle name is Hussein, of middle eastern origin? Does his middle name somehow disqualify his bid for presidency, or diminish his American-ness? Are middle-easterner names harbingers of danger? Do share what you think.

Didn’t Hillary used to call herself “Hillary Rodham Clinton”? Although now she just goes by Hillary Clinton….interesting….

@Supergirl: She originally kept her maiden name (Rodham) to use professionally; when Bill Clinton started getting national attention, she went by Hillary Rodham Clinton. I’m not sure why she’s not using the Rodham much now but hey, it’s up to her.

@squirbel: I think it’s pretty evident that the more bigoted right-wing commentators are going to try to link Barack Hussein Obama to Saddam Hussein, if only because they’ve already started.. In that sense, it’s a political liability; but the shame is not his, but in the bigots trying to make an issue out of a common name, and I’d like to think that the average non-bigoted voter is smart enough to see through that.

For many it is not something to be reasoned through, their reaction is more visceral…

The same reason I don’t. It doesn’t matter because I don’t go by that name.
This question insinuates that one should vote for him because of a name given tohim at birth.
I am not voting for Obama but it has nothing to do with his name. If that is all there is to it, I’d rather have a President with the middle name Hussein than a President with a last name of Huckabee.