Party Executive Committee member thinks Obama might be "terrorist-connected"..

The guy in question is Fred Hobbs.  And a Democrat.

“Maybe [it’s] the same reason I don’t want to — I don’t exactly approve of a lot of the things he stands for and I’m not sure we know enough about him,” Hobbs said when asked why he thought Davis wasn’t endorsing Obama. “He’s got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.”

And here I thought it was evil Republicans, with their talk-radio outlets, Fox News, and vast smear machine that brought such things up.

Hobbs isn't the only prominent Democrat in Tennessee that isn't sure about Obama:

His chief of staff, Beecher Frasier, said he doesn’t know for sure if Obama is “terrorist connected” but he assumes he’s not.

Since the story broke, there have been a few backpedals:

The Tennessee Democratic Party issued the following statement Friday morning in response to this story:

“The Tennessee Democratic Party is united behind our party’s nominee, Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Hobbs is obviously misinformed, and his statement highlights the perpetual efforts of the Republican Party, especially here in Tennessee, to turn internet smears and highly offensive gossip into their party’s message against Senator Barack Obama as we head into the General Election. Instead of debating the issues, the Tennessee Republican Party continues to rely upon slanderous and salacious tall tales. They are borrowing from the playbook first written by Richard Nixon and employed in the race against Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Tennesseans of every political persuasion are tired of these tactics.”

Beecher Frasier, Chief of Staff for Rep. Lincoln Davis, issued this statement clarifying his position:

"No one in their right mind, including me, believes Senator Obama has ties to terrorism. It is truly ridiculous for anyone to try to make hay out of these comments."