DC notes: George Allen, Presidential ranking

Allen

My print edition Friday column dealt with the George Allen Jewish story:

The battle for Virginia has suddenly become ugly, even dangerous. Jim Webb has not made any special effort to restrain the bloggers and rumormongers who have begun attacking Allen. Not because he is a Jew, of course, but because he is "ashamed of it," or because "he concealed it" or "covered it up." The main thing is to write, for people to know. Allen accused Webb's headquarters of being anti-Semitic. He received the backing of two Jewish lawmakers, both Republicans - Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, and Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota - who described Webb's campaign activity as "intimidation and intolerance."

This is not the first time Webb has faced such accusations. He too is from Virginia, he too is one of the guys, he too chews tobacco. In the primaries he defeated a Jewish opponent, Harris Miller, but not before one of his activists disseminated cartoons showing a very long nose and pockets bulging with dollars. Webb apologized, said there had been no intent to give offense and asked that the flyer be scrapped. Anyway, luck was on his side. Miller is a loyal Democrat and is standing by Webb's side in the campaign against Allen, who, he said this week, "is trying to divert people from the fact that he has been misleading people about his background."

Allen has effectively admitted that he misled the public, at least for a short time - the time between the moment his mother told him and the day he issued the press release. But he was guided neither by embarrassment nor fear, he says, but by the fact that he promised his mother that he would keep the secret. He wrapped up the first round of this episode with a dramatic appearance on Wolf Blitzer's program on CNN, and this week the program could still be seen on the Allen campaign's Web site (www.georgeallen.com). Allen apparently believes that this, too, can be politically useful. Not that he had much of a choice. His voice choking with tears for a moment, he told Blitzer what every politician says at such times: "I learned a lot."

Allen 2

Read more about Allen's troubles in today's Post: According to campaign strategists, Allen's prominence in the Republican presidential race is the main reason the controversies that roiled his effort to win a second term in the Senate are emerging now, after a 23-year political career.

Allen 3

And here's a letter I got from a reader about Allen's father, the coach:

I met Sen. Allen's father at Ben Gurion Airport in the late 80's. I had arrived on a flight that began at Dulles Airport (probably British Air or Sabena; I assume we all switched planes in Europe somewhere). I'm standing on line at immigration and I notice behind me Coach Allen. I'm 46 and a longtime Redskins fans, old enough to remember when he was the Coach.

I apologized for bothering him, asked if he was Coach Allen and told him I was a 'Skins fan from his day. He smiled and we talked about a heartbreaker the team had lost that day (or the day before).

I asked why he was in Israel and he said he was giving a speech or a presentation at Wingate. I remember that he was worried about dealing with his luggage so I was hoping to help him on the other side, but I lost him after I got through (B-G in those days was no B-G 2000).

The most interesting part of the conversation was that Etty was there and they told me that from Israel they would be visiting her birthplace in Tunisia. When I said you probably could not get there from here, he said they had arranged to fly via Europe and would not have their passports stamped in Israel. I recall being slightly offended, but I understood.

I remember wishing I could keep in touch to see what they thought of Israel. Now that I know Mrs. Allen was Jewish, I'm even more curious.

The Factor

Later this week we will unveil our second round of our Presidential ranking, The Israel Factor. Prof. Camil Fuchs already has the numbers and is working on them.

In the meantime, we just started a new dialogue with one of the panel members, Alon Pinkas, and his first 3 answers all deal with the controversy surrounding this project: "I checked the differences in my ranking from last month and found that they were incremental. I attribute that to more - but not enough - statements, speeches and exposure candidates receive as time progresses.

That does not necessarily mean that I may not change rankings in a more acute way in the future. The more a candidate is exposed, the more we know about his or her political surroundings, the better we are equipped to make a judgment."

Read the dialogue here, and send your questions to rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il

More American politics on Rosner's Domain:

Will American rabbis vote Republican?

Mid-term Diary: On the mid-terms, the Mideast, the Jewish voters and Israel.

The Israel Factor: Ranking the American Presidential candidates.