There are probably a large number of Senators and Representatives in the US Congress who also do not know the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'ite.

Do not think that Senator John McCain is an intellectual who would keep track of differences like this even if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both seem like they have very gifted minds. Remember that any President's staff is going to have some first rate minds on it. Would not say that George W. Bush has a gifted mind. That's probably true of many US Presidents though that they are not academics but people of action. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critici...George_W._Bush