Lightning Rod

Listing an Opponent's 'Jewish Money': Bad Idea

Heather Horn 29 Views Jul 30, 2010

Horror and bemusement have greeted news of a huge blunder in the reelection campaign of Democratic Representative Mike McMahon of New York. The campaign wanted to show the extent to which opponent Mike Grimm relied on out-of-district support. To do this, McMahorn campaign finance director Debra Solomon made a list of fundraising totals. In a major misstep, it appears someone thought it would pack more punch not to list out-of-district donations, but to list specifically "Jewish" contributions, as determined by Solomon's knowledge of the Jewish community. Then, the McMahon campaign turned it over to The New York Observer, which dutifully reported the oddity. Needless to say, this isn't playing out quite the way the organizers must have intended.

  • What Were They Thinking?  "Putting together a list of the 'Jewish Money' Grimm raised in Q2 probably wasn't the best approach," writes Josh Marshall in an understated fashion at Talking Points Memo. "And if that wasn't enough, she sent the list to the New York Observer. How could anything bad come of that?"
  • Thinking Like a 'Cartoon Villain,' decides Gawker's Adrian Chen.
What's funnier here: Imagining Solomon dutifully trolling through the Grimm donor list using her finely tuned Jewdar, or imagining the face of the New York Observer reporter when the McMahon campaign gleefully turned over a fat manila folder with "Grimm Jewish Money Q2" scrawled on it in Sharpie?
  • How Gauche  "Note to Michael McMahon," writes Allahpundit slyly at Hot Air. "When making a charge like this in polite company, the proper terminology these days is 'Zionist money.' Wink."

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