NJDC Calls on Rep. Mark Kirk to Repudiate Supporter Andy Lappin
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NJDC Calls on Rep. Mark Kirk to Repudiate Supporter Andy Lappin for Letter Implying Oponents Condone Anti-Semitism
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) called on Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) to repudiate a campaign-style email sent by supporter Andy Lappin which implies that Democratic candidates Jay Footlik and Dan Seals condoned anti-Semitic behavior by attending the YearlyKos convention earlier this month.
Mr. Lappin's email seeks to paint the 900 bloggers who attended the YearlyKos convention - and the hundreds of thousands of bloggers in the DailyKos online community - as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel because a handful of posters have written objectionable comments. To defend his position, Mr. Lapin presents five comments he finds objectionable, none of which were written by Kos or his editors.
To blame all attendees and participants in the YearlyKos convention - which was sponsored by JetBlue airlines, Warner Independent Pictures, the National Education Association, and other mainstream organizations - for objectionable comments posted by a small handful of people is the height of absurdity. If Mr. Lappin's logic were applied to the Republican Party, all its presidential candidates would be deemed anti-Israel because they regularly participate in debates with anti-Israel firebrand Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
"Rep. Kirk should condemn this over-the-top email sent on his behalf of his campaign by Andy Lappin," said NJDC Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "Mr. Lappin's email seeks to deceive voters about the strong, pro-Israel candidacies of Jay Footlik and Dan Seals and makes a ridiculous leap in logic that suggests a few inappropriate comments posted on a blog somehow represent the opinions held by hundreds of thousands of activists. There are some on both the far right and the far left that hold anti-Israel views. The bloggers cited by Lappin no more represent the views of most progressives than the views of Pat Buchanan or Ron Paul represent mainstream conservatives."
"This is not the first time we've seen individuals tied to the Kirk campaign using sleazy tactics," continued Forman. "This is reminiscent of 2006 when a Kirk staffer issued a veiled threat to cut off aid to Tel Aviv University because one of the school's backers supported Kirk's Democratic opponent. If Kirk and his political cronies want to do something truly productive for Israel they should quit trying to use Israel as a partisan wedge issue and work on encouraging the House Republican leadership to change their behavior and begin supporting full funding for the foreign aid bill."
