He saw it as politically advantageous...to regard himself as "Barack Obama"...rather than "Barry Davis."
Realistically, it would be foolhardy for an American politician seeking national office to think that any identification with "exotic" Islam in the post-9/11 era would be politically advantageous. But his Islamic past and his connections to Islam were deliberately covered up and explained away by the MSM in 2008, so only those of us who cared enough to get the real story from alternative media could use it effectively against him. Then, too, John McCain and the GOP establishment lacked the guts to discuss the subject in the campaign.
Well, first of all, prior to recently, most Americans were not familiar with Kenya being Muslim. I don't think they ever thought about it until it was eventually brought out subsequent to the 2008 elections. *I* certainly didn't know about it, and I read extensively, so I can imagine most people were not aware of any specific Muslim connection with Kenya. Most Americans would have regarded it as simply some exotic place in Africa, like "Zanzibar." (Very near Kenya) I suspect this sort of thing would resonate with those afro-centric black constituents, and it would have been handy in securing their votes.
Secondly, Barack Obama started his political career well before 2001, when the Attention of American citizens became suddenly aware of the Islamic threat from the middle east. He had been playing the "Barack Obama" from "Kenya" card for so long, it was too late to walk it back. Too many people were aware of his connection to Kenya (Indeed, I thought he was FROM Kenya up until 2008 when I first noticed that he was claiming to be from Hawaii) for him to pretend he didn't have one.
Beyond that, it was probably more emotionally satisfying to consider himself the Son of Royalty in a far away exotic land then it would be to be the bastard child of a local newspaper columnist. (If he even knew or suspected about Davis' role in his mother's life.)
Then, too, John McCain and the GOP establishment lacked the guts to discuss the subject in the campaign.
And there is the real nub of it. John McCain was too much of a gentleman to recognize Barack Obama as a horrible piece of gutter scum. He did not challenge his credentials, he did not challenge his illegal election tactics (disabling address checking on credit card donations. etc.) He did not call him out on his disgusting friends and connections. All in all, John McCain was fighting by the Marquis of Queensberry rules, while Obama (and Co.) were following no rules at all.
Even after the election, when his staff discovered evidence that Obama's team was committing election fraud in Ohio and Pennsylvania, he just rolled over and played dead so as not to get the liberals in America upset that they couldn't get their dream of having a "black" President.
McCain just wouldn't fight to the extent that he should have. He made too many false assumptions about the decency of the people he opposed.
That they were Democrats is all he should have needed to know.