Political discourse in the United States has been described as being marked by incivility  with efforts often focused on highlighting a candidate’s similarities with the electorate on one hand, and demonizing political opponents on the other. To that end, candidates and their supporters may use a variety of strategies, such as coded talk , to discretely remind voters that they share the same religious beliefs and values as their constituents. For example, conservative evangelical voters are likely to identify a political candidate who uses religious coded talk as an in-group member  and to express higher levels of support for that candidate. When Barack Obama entered the 2008 Presidential race he was the first African-American major party candidate and his out-group status, both in terms of his ethnicity and rumored religious (non-Christian) beliefs, was frequently discussed in the media. For example, as illustrated by the quote above, references to President Obama’s middle name were often used in an attempt to sway potential voters. We suspect that the use of religious coded talk and references to the President’s middle name could serve as primes, consequently influencing views of potential voters. The authors are interested in exploring the effects of both ethnic (e.g., name) and religious priming, similar to what may have occurred during the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections, on people’s attitudes toward President Obama, a well-known figure in contemporary America.