The Washington Post published an article this morning in which Alan Secrest, a pollster, accuses Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) of making an anti-Semitic remark at a campaign strategy meeting .
What was the remark? We don’t know. Secrest won’t say or say why he won’t say. Both Mame Reiley, who heads Va. Gov. Mark Warner’s PAC, and Joe Trippi, former head of Howard Dean’s campaign, attended the meeting and said they heard no such remark.
Secrest and Moran both acknowledge the two had a heated argument over campaign strategy. According to the article, Secrest wanted Moran to spend money for a poll and advertising, whereas Moran wanted to focus on grassroots efforts in his primary campaign that will end Tuesday with voters choosing between Moran and a challenger who has never held elective office.
Moran has been dogged by some Jewish leaders for his remarks in response to a question regarding the Iraqi war posed by a woman who described herself as Jewish at a community group months ago. “If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this,” Moran said. “The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going and I think they should.”
There were reports that neither the woman nor most others at the meeting were offended by the comments. In context, the remarks didn’t strike the crowd as anti-Semitic, though one could argue they were politically naïve. Nonetheless, accusations of anti-Semitism were widely reported by The Post.
Moran’s sympathy with Palestinians in the Middle East conflict may be behind many of the charges. He is one of the few in Congress who has argued for a more balanced approach to the Middle East.
In recent years, Moran’s relations with pro-Israel organizations and U.S. Jewish leaders have deteriorated. The groups cite his 1991 vote against foreign aid to Israel, rhetorical support for the Palestinian cause, statements on Israeli history and leadership, and acceptance of campaign cash from individuals sympathetic to the terrorist organization Hamas or under investigation for possible links to terrorists. He later sent back those contributions.
…”the claim that this is anti-Semitic is just a canard that is designed to undermine the antiwar movement,” said [Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington], who is Jewish. “Acknowledging that the Jewish community is one of several influential communities in the U.S. is not anti-Semitic.”
It was irresponsible of The Post to run this story, given that the reporters could find no one to corroborate even what the remark was so the reader could judge if it was offensive. In an email to the newspaper’s ombudsman (ombudsman@washpost.com or (202) 334-7582), I said the paper has participated in a modern form of McCarthyism, allowing vague, uncorroborated accusations to find a home on its pages.
The Post story notes that the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call published the story yesterday. But to hide behind that fact would also be irresponsible. Roll Call is not widely read by the 8th Congressional District’s voters, and they would have never heard of it at this point — a few days before the primary election.