Obama camp fights back against internet smears

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Barack Obama has shown the power of the internet for political fundraising. Now he is fighting its darker side as a vehicle for “smears” against his White House bid.

Pausing from a war of words with Republican John McCain over taxes, the Illinois senator has unveiled an interactive website to debunk false rumours peddled by email and right-wing media outlets.

The site at www.fightthesmears.com was created after a recent, and so-far unfounded, assertion that Obama’s wife Michelle had been caught on tape slurring white people.