Sometimes you give people too little credit and sometimes too much.
The person is probably fairly well-educated since the e-mail address is ben.venue@yahoo.com. Ben Venue? Bienvenue? Welcome.
You can't know if it's serious or not until it's investigated. And when it is, WE may never know if it was real or not. Any way you look at it, it's worrisome. I know a woman who wants to vote for Obama but is afraid to because she is convinced that if he gets elected, he'll be assassinated. Her feelings are based on the temperament around this election, the vitriol being slung at Obama and racism which is still a factor in this country.