During the 2008 campaign, many paranoid theories were floated on who the power behind the Obama campaign was. Most of the attention went to financier George Soros, but a vocal splinter group held that the real cash flow came from something much more sinister: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez is basically the boogeyman for America's anti-Socialist forces, so the thought that Obama was a puppet for his interests terrified Tea Partiers. Sure, Obama has spoken publicly multiple times in condemnation of the Chavez regime, but that's just a smokescreen.