Is it really “relevant” whether Allen’s mother is Jewish?  Maybe to a few people, but not to most.  Should it make any difference in the Senate election?  I don’t think so.  Does it make any sense for Allen to lecture a reporter about religious freedom (what?) when she asks him whether he has Jewish ancestry?  Not in the least. 

Allen seems to be playing a sort of anti-Harris card: he regards religious affiliation and identity as so unimportant and irrelevant to politics that he actually plays at being offended by the very question.  I don’t think I have ever seen someone get so angry about something that he believes to be irrelevant.  I can understand dismissing something as irrelevant, but what was this weird refusal to answer a simple question?  In the end, he did answer the question, so why the big song and dance about how irrelevant it is? 

If people can delve into the polygamous ancestors of Mitt Romney in the name of journalism and we make his Mormonism a legitimate topic of debate (because it may have political significance and is relevant), why on earth is Allen’s ancestry somehow off limits?  The only reason to keep it off limits is this: if there is some attempt to use that ancestry to somehow discredit the candidate with voters, it might arguably be a kind of dirty pool that shouldn’t be tolerated.  Given Allen’s hijinks of late, I should think the last thing he needs to worry about is an “irrelevant” question like this.