I think Obama honest to God, believes in his straw men. I think he has a distorted view of the loyal opposition in this country. Anyone who doesn’t share his faculty lounge/radical associates viewpoints is distorted into an unrealistic foe. He believe it. That is the mental sickness he has.
But, if so, that is intellectually lazy. The true bottom line between leftist ideology and conservative ideology isn't about personal honesty or a lack thereof. When you cut deeper than that you find that one is compatible with the Constitution and one is not.
Everything else is just political strategy, honest or dishonest. Wise or unwise. It naturally follows, however, that if you are defending and promoting that which is alien to the foundation you will have to use some form of deception.