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“Jews And Finances And Things”?

I just want to clarify something because I didn’t [by] any means want to infer or imply anything about Jews and finances and things. ~Tommy Thompson 

Good grief.  Abe Foxman’s talking points are already written for him here.  This is one worthy of Biden.  I mean, what was going through his mind?  There’s something to be said for not trying to lamely pander to every group you speak to in the course of a campaign.  Just consider Romney’s disastrous “patria o muerte” moment down in south Florida as an another example of trying to play to the crowd way too much.  Here’s the thing about ethnic audiences: they know what their traditions are, and they want you, the candidate, to respect them.  They do not want to hear about how you “understand” or “share” their traditions, because, unless you come from that group, you don’t.  Don’t even try to pretend that you do.  It’s embarrassing, and it’s liable to get you a lot of bad press coverage to boot.

about the author

Daniel Larison is a senior editor at TAC, where he also keeps a solo blog. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.

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