By John J. Sweeney

Read more from President Sweeney.

Barack Obama shares the values of working families. He shares our commitment to create good jobs, win health care we all can count on, stop rewarding companies for shipping jobs overseas and rebuild the middle class by restoring workers' freedom to form unions and bargain.

But the right-wing rumor machine has been hard at work in a shameless attempt to shift attention from what Obama can and will, if elected, do for working families. Their goal is to muddy the waters with rumors crassly designed to divide us along race and faith lines and paint a true friend of working families ready to get America back on the right track as unpatriotic.

So let's take a cold, hard look at five of the most persistent manufactured rumors about Obama and clear them up now.

1) Does Obama wear a flag pin on his lapel?

Yes, but not always. Like many presidential candidates, sometimes he wears a flag pin, sometimes he wears a breast cancer awareness pin, sometimes he wears his U.S. Senate membership pin and other times he wears no pin at all. (Rutenberg, Jim and Zeleny, Jeff. “The Politics of the Lapel, When It Comes to Obama,” The New York Times, 5/15/08)

2) Is Obama a Christian?

Yes. He is a committed Christian. In 1985, he began working as a community organizer with a Christian church-based group seeking to improve the living conditions in poor Chicago neighborhoods. (Pulliam, Sarah and Olsen, Ted. “Q&A: Barack Obama,” Christianity Today, 1/23/08)

3) Was Obama sworn in on a Bible?

Yes. Barack Obama took the oath of office on his personal family Bible. (It was U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota who was sworn in on the Quran.) (Fiore, Faye. “He’s the Hill’s King for a Day, but Senate Has Other Plans,” Los Angeles Times, 1/5/05)

4) Was Obama born in America?

Yes. Barack Obama’s birth certificate shows he was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961, at 7:24 p.m. (Malcolm, Andrew. “Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate Revealed Here,” LAtimes.com, 6/16/08)

5) Does Obama place his hand over his heart when he says the pledge of allegiance?

Yes. Barack Obama always places his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance. (Dobbs, Michael. “Obama Nabbed by the Patriot Police,” WashingtonPost.com, 11/2/07)

Now, with those rumors out of the way, let's get back to what matters. Barack Obama will work for working families. Find out more at www.MeetObama08.org.