The Dish

I guess you could see this anti-Muslim email to Jewish recipients coming. It’s encouraging that many are exposing it. But the problem is deeper, according to this reader:

I wish that Cohen’s column were an aberration, but unfortunately I think Obama faces a lot of obstacles with the Jews–especially older ones who’ve grown leery of the black community.  The anti-semitism there is real, and not just with Farrakhan, but with Jesse Jackson referring to New York as "Hymie Town" to and Al Sharpton calling Jews "diamond merchants" and Andrew Young’s more recent comments about Jewish store-keepers. And these aren’t isolated incidents – the hate pops out of the mouths of rappers and athletes. This is especially hurtful to a group that has traditionally espoused black civil rights.

Sadly even my mother, who lives in Florida, says about Obama, "I just don’t trust him." She can’t give any reasons, though she will usually mutter something about Israel.

My mother’s fear is that he’ll cut ties to Israel.  She’s typical of the older generation and their belief that in every black person’s heart, tthere is hatred toward the Jews.  And it’s not just the Farrakans. Remember, too, that this generation was alive while the Holocaust was happening.  They watched as the Jews were liberated from the camps.  Anti-semitism is especially real to them.  So for my elders, Israel has become the one deal-breaker.  And it doesn’t matter how many times I tell her that he hasn’t said one thing to dis the holy land or Jews.  I don’t know that I can budge her (though I’m desperately trying with threats of not seeing her grandchildren) before the election.  She can’t be convinced.  And this from a woman who left South Africa decades ago–before it became fashionable–because she couldn’t stand living in a place where blacks lived as second-class citizens.

Cohen’s column is a disgrace. There is something of the "loyalty oath" about it.  But, unfortunately, it’s more deeply reflective of Jewish opinion than any of us rabid Obama supporters would like to admit.  I don’t know much about what Obama is doing to reach out to Jews, but he should probably be doing more of it.

The Clintons’ message to African-Americans?

Put ’em up:

Researchers have found that males usually hit others with the intent to coerce or punish; women, by contrast, are likely expressing distress when they hit others. It’s almost the opposite intention: speaking in generalities, men hit to establish their power, while women hit to express their powerlessness.

Then there’s Hillary Clinton.

"Obama messes folks up because he refuses (generally) to campaign in blackface mask. Yes, he does tend to sound a little more down home before black audiences. But he doesn’t primarily present himself to us as a vessel for our racial complaint.

That’s the mask traditional post-civil rights black pols generally wear, with pride. And it’s the mask white pols —fake or sincere—put on when they seek black votes. No one ever wore it better than Bill Clinton, and thus Hilary by proxy. But there’s something about this moment that is peeling this mask from Hilary Clinton’s face, right before our eyes," – the American Race.

Who can resist with speeches like this one:

Are we not equal in the sight of God?

If so, let petty differences disappear, in full-hearted endorsement of whatever programs I have been graced to envision. For "one hand full, with quietness," is, as we read in The Bible, better not only than "two hands full with strife," but than the benefits of so-called "free and fair elections."

A little child in Oregon said to me: "Mister President, be good to us…be kind," and pressed into my hand a crayon drawing of an ostrich. That drawing, today, rests in a place of honor on my desk – encased in Lucite, next to the coin which the first President threw across a river.

We will not be defeated. We must press on, looking neither to the right nor to the left, but looking forward – toward that day which even the most cynical among us must realize is The Future. There is a New Day dawning in America. Seven days a week.

It’s not Romney. Promise.

A smart take:

After each GOP primary so far, the winner has faced an immediate test. For Huckabee after Iowa, it was whether his appeal could translate beyond his evangelical base. Two primaries later, the answer seems to be no. For McCain after New Hampshire, it was whether he could use his momentum and what looked liked a favorable schedule to break through his 30-percent ceiling and become the front-runner. After tonight’s result, the answer likewise looks like no. Now it’s Romney’s turn to be tested: Can his Mormon, flip-flopping, starched-shirt northeastern self do well in Dixie? If it can – if he can compete strongly in South Carolina and Florida, and maybe win one of the two – then he’ll be off to the races. But the way this campaign has gone so far, I wouldn’t bet on it.

The consensus seems to be that the Republican race really is wide open. Powerline:

So who is the Republican front-runner now? There is none.

Mark Levin:

The primary process is wide open and remains wide open. Romney is the frontrunner — for now. But that can change.

Hewitt is relatively restrained:

Mitt Romney has now re-established himself as the candidate to beat over the very long campaign.

I’m with Larison:

I need a drink.

If Romney retools his campaign and presents himself as a moderate businessman able to bring better management to Washington, he finally has a message that could work. Of course, it’s just the latest poll-tested cynical ploy. But it’s working for Clinton! And she and Romney have one thing in common: two focus-grouped cynical dynastic holograms.

I need a drink.

9.10 pm: Did Robert L. Johnson actually say he was "out of bounds" in bringing up Obama’s past drug use? That’s what Clinton just said. Did she just make that up? (Update: if you read Johnson’s press release, you can see that Clinton was lying to maintain good relations with Johnson. She lied when she said that ayone who did such a thing would be disowned. She hasn’t disowned someone who both smeared Obama, then lied about it, then refused to back away from it. So that’s two lies. If it were her opponent, you can be sure she’d be taking notes. I’m holding her to the same standards she applies to others.) 9.20 pm: Clinton again said that she doesn’t want to inject the gender issue into this race. Again, this is easily disproved by any number of statements she has made over the last several months. She’s not as bad as her husband, but she reflexively makes stuff up.

9.30 pm: Just like Bush, she cannot talk about her own weaknesses. In her eyes, her weakness is being too aggressive for change! And then she pivots to exploit Obama’s own confession of his personal disorganization. The more you see her, the more calculating she is.

9.40 pm. Obama’s showing some sense of humor, which has been lacking in his campaign. Both Clinton and Obama look exhausted.

9.50 pm. Clinton manages to pivot the sub-prime mess to pander to blacks, Asians and Hispanics. But, hey, she doesn’t want to inject race into this race. Her tone is a little hectoring as well.

10.03 pm: Clinton uses an opportunity to ask a question to give a speech burnishing her anti-war credentials. Pure old politics. But it works! And she’s a pro.

10.24 pm: Panderthon on Yucca Mountain.

10.34 pm: Man, this is boring. The only moments of spontaneity are when Obama says something funny or sharp.

10.43 pm. Guns! Obama tried to bridge the red-blue divide. Good luck.

10.49 pm. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, whatever. Finally, a real moment.

10.54 pm. She’s so good at this. She’s playing the Rove card, implying that electing someone else would mean that we’d be vulnerable to al Qaeda if one of her opponents wins. Because she’s allegedly "ready on day one." In the end, you just drop your jaw at the shamelessness of the Clintons. But they get away with it and grind on. I think Clinton won this debate by utilizing classic old-political tactics. Every answer was filtered through an exacting political filter. No answer provided any potential vulnerability. She is ready on Day One to play the classic political game. That’s all. That’s her real experience: sliming opponents, rewarding allies, listening to pollsters, tending to her machine.

10.57 pm. Clinton says she decided to run for president a year ago on New Years. She says this with a perfectly straight face. You have to understand that she can tell lies almost as well as her husband. And if you don’t know or cannot know the actual truth, there’s no way to tell. She’s that good.

Which, of course, is a bad thing, as far as the GOP establishment is concerned. If I were Michael Bloomberg, this would be a good night.

A reader writes of the Nevada debate:

So Hillary believes Bob Johnson was referring to Obama’s "community organizing." Just like she believed Bill was counseling a troubled young female intern. Just like she believed her Iraq War vote was a vote to put inspectors back in.

Who does she believe is going to win the Super Bowl?