The mail piece reminds me of a certain genre of Jewish humor that peaked in the mid 1960s. I remember playing the Jewish version of the game of Life at a friend's house during that era that used this form of humor. They don't seem to have that version of the game now, so maybe this type of humor isn't so popular anymore? It also reminds me of the type of humor in an old record my grandmother had when I was a small child called When You're In Love, the Whole World is Jewish. (Do you remember from that record, Irving, the 142d fastest gun in the west?) Both were sort of cute for a Jewish audience, but then again we were Jewish and no one was using any of this to seek a license to run the country.
The mail piece is devoid of issues, so presumably Jay thinks the Jewish community does not care about the issues, but only his Jewish connections. I've heard the Tenth is about 20% Jewish, so even if this piece is successful in the Jewish community, 20% does not make a victory. Jay might want to speak to everyone in the District about real issues if he really wants to win.
Then again, my friend Melissa, not knowing I was writing about this mailpiece today, caused me to think about this further. She took me back to the Sept. 12, 1960 speech of John F. Kennedy by sending me this blog post. I also wrote about Kennedy's speech last week. The writer of the post sent by Melissa says:
If you listen to the media, it was forty-seven years ago that John Kennedy gave a speech to reassure majority Protestants about his Catholic faith. That's completely untrue. Kennedy never made such a speech.
Instead, John Kennedy stepped in front of a suspicious, openly hostile audience of protestant religious leaders and delivered a speech in which he adamantly maintained that faith of any sort should not be in an issue. His speech was not an apology for being Catholic. It was a bold demand to hold fast to an "absolute separation of church and state."
As I said last week after Mitt Romney's frighteningly divisive speech, it was Kennedy's words that inspired and reassured the Jewish community that they could live undisturbed in this country just 15 years after the holocaust. Kennedy told us that he believed in an America:
where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind; and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.
As a Jewish-American, I find Kennedy's vision of an American ideal of brotherhood of religions one that has served us well for many years and hope it will be allowed to survive to serve us well in the future. I find Jay Footlik's vision of pandering to one particular community with old inside jokes to be the same one being sold to us by the likes of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and George W. Bush, divide by religion, conquer and care not about the consequences.
41 comments:
You nailed it Ellen. I saw the mailpiece and couldn't figure out exactly why it bothered me so much. It's just more about using religion as a polarizing factor than appealing to people through humor. Jay likes pictures of himself with various leaders. I have a lot of pictures of me with a lot of very impressive leaders too, so I wonder if that makes me qualified to run for office.
Jay could teach a class on how to get things wrong and offend the most possible people in a political campaign. Or maybe he could co-teach with the Macaca guy.
His judgement makes me very uncomfortable. It's difficult to understand how anyone would support him, much less extol his intelligence. Does he approve of these messages?
Maybe you haven't noticed, but Footlik is making headway much more quickly than Seals. Nobody would even know who Seals is if he hadn't already lost once.
Ellen, you are completely right and I've heard agreement from many Dem voters - Jews and non-Jews alike. The "not bad" caption with Jay's family photo is equally offensive and even sexist. His campaign says they are not focused on Jewish issues alone, but that is a hard one to believe. And whoever thinks Jay is making headway is wacky - no one knows who he is. His communication people must have no judgment.
Maybe that's the purpose of all these commercials and mailers in such bad taste. They definitely stand out from the ordinary pieces which attempt to tell you something meaningful about the candidate. Jay may not care what kind of publicity he gets out of this because he thinks the public is too stupid to remember anything but his name. For him, a negative reaction is still better than none at all.
After the primary, even when Jay loses, no one will know who he is. What bubble does 'not even a democrat said' live in? Oh, yeah. he's not even a democrat - the question is redundant.
I recently moved from the 10th way out west to Santa Fe, NM, but I've kept active/interested in the Seals campaign. A friend emailed me a copy of Footlik's ad, but in such a way as not to show it in its full offensiveness.(Because of the size and shape of the ad, she had to "break it up" to email.) I didn't realise just how awful it was until I saw it reproduced here in it's full glory.
As an American Jew, I would have to say that Israel is about sixth or so on my list of priorities for our once-wonderful country after seven years under the Bush Administration. I've been furious in the past two congressional elections by my Jewish friends who supported Kirk because he was "good for Israel". I would ask if they'd ever heard of a Democrat who WASN'T good for Israel? And, anyway, Kirk supported the Bush regime almost right down the line, except for when his Republican "keepers" let him cast a vote that would aid him in his increasingly liberal district. I would also ask my Jewish friends if this administration was so pro-Israel, why they hadn't promoted peace talks since they took office?
I certainly hope Footlik is soundly defeated in the primary. Let's all continue to work together to make the 10th a district with a representative for ALL its residents.
Republicans are pulling for Footlik and that says everything I need to know about the guy. Seals is the Democrat. Footlik is the right leaning, one issue, DC lobbyist who wants more of what Bush dishes out because it makes money for his "security" clients. The only surprise here is that the Footlik camp was stupid enough to make it all so obvious. If not stupid, it's a strategy is to get Republicans to take Democratic ballots in the primary and vote for Footlik because they fear Seals and know defeating Footlik will be a walk in the park. Democrats need to come out strong in February to tell the Republicans that they cannot shove their candidate down our throats.
Great to hear from Jill -- one of the best Democratic volunteers in the world. We miss you, Jill! But our loss is New Mexico's gain.
Lauren Beth Gash
oy, what a dumb mailer.
it's even not grammatical!
"meshugunah" is a noun.
it should say, "i'd have to be meshugge"... b/c "meshugge" is the adjective.
granted a lot of people do it the first way.
jay did the same sort of schtick at our township organization dinner ~ and bombed.
he is definitely playing the Jewish card while saying he is not.
that's not menschlikeit, imho
Being a older Jewish female I did not find Jay's ad particulary offensive. But it did not strike me as very professional either. His ad would not influence my vote one little bit. Jay is a one issue candidate and we have to get our act together here before we can help any other country. I live in America and my first thought is about how conditions are where I live!!!
The Jay patrol has been quiet on this post. I think you left them speechless Ms. EBG. The country is in a separation of church and state crisis with Jews and other minority religions always on the short end of that stick. Jay comes along and puts his hat in the anti-separation circle. Not smart for the election or for the nation.
This mailer, on the heels of the lame Brady Bunch commercial Footlik aired during a Sunday/Monday night football game a couple of weeks ago, shows just how out-of-touch he is. He's definitely not ready for prime time.
A few things.
Thanks for all the comments. It's nice to have reading material here home with the flu for so many days.
We are at over 75,000 hits just today mostly due to the groudswell on Thursday's post about Kirk defending CIA obstruction of justice.
On this topic, I'm getting calls and emails. I'm discussing ages here because my pet theory on this one is that reactions are at least in part generational.
I spoke to a gentleman today who is in his mid-70s and Jewish. He did not get offended by the ad, thought it was sort of funny, but also sort of an insult being asked to vote on religion alone. He feels those Jews who will vote for a Jew just for being a Jew were in his grandparents era, that would make them about 110+ years old. He said he didn't think too many people ever did that for races beyond judges and only sometimes then because so little was known about the candidates. However, this gentleman might not be average. He's a well informed and sharp guy. He wants to know what Jay's going to do on health care and so far has seen nothing.
A woman I heard from today in her 50s thought the ad was fine and brought out a lot of memories in the people to whom it was targeted. Do memories translate into votes?
I'm wondering exactly who was targeted and how. Was it by name? What do you do with "Gill"? No one in my family received the mailer. Names would not be too reliable. Do you do it by zip code? Less reliable. Did Jay get his hands on synagogue lists? Wouldn't that be improper?
And yes, anony 2:38, the Jay brigade is pretty quiet today.
Hawkeye, I thought he'd have done better to go with the Partridge Family. Weren't they considered cooler than the Brady Bunch back in the day? Wow, it just hit me. Jay's campaign is a real blast from the past. How is he going to deal with not his grandparents' republicans?
I admit to a bias of my own and would tend to vote for someone because they're Jewish, because to me, that's always represented a commitment to values I trust. I have another stronger bias however, at being patronized or manipulated. I didn't get a mailer as I'm not Jewish, but to me this looks awfully similar to republicans tactics of playing the race card. It disturbs me that this is the most recent of many missteps of Jay's which paints a picture of a truly shallow, flippant, egotistical person. Brady Bunch was the wrong choice- he should have been Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver. I can't believe intelligent people will be fooled by him, even if they're from the generation that will always vote for a Jew.
I'm sorry to hear you have the flu, Ellen.
Jill,
Ever heard of Cynthia McKinney? She said that Jews are the reason she lost her election and that "Jews have bought everybody", not to mention the multitude of anti-semitic slurs made by her campaign workers on election night 2006.
It makes me sad that supporting the Jewish state is so low on your list of priorities, especially considering all of the U.S.-Israel intelligence and defense sharing, not to mention amazing things Israel has created, like cell phones and video pills and intel chips, but to each his own.
I totally feel for you in terms of people voting for someone, especially a Republican, just because they say they'll support Israel. That's how I felt in 2000 and 2004 when people said they'd vote for Bush because they thought he would be pro-Israel.
That's why we have such a great opportunity this year in Jay Footlik - for once we can vote for a liberal Democrat who strongly supports Israel!
So, Jay want to have a race war on this? This is why religion and race should stay out of politics.
I'm not sure anonymous 5:51pm came from where you might think. It appears to have come out of DC from the looks of the sitemeter and see who came before it. The comment focuses on McKinney who the Democrats voted out and were done with in 2006. Google search her and you'll see it's all republicans fixated on her now. It's from the republican playbook to insert race and religion in the campaign and it's a republican concept that American Jews should not care about the USA. Kirk's folks are desperate for a Jay victory. So, despite Jay's mailer, I feel that comment was from the Kirk camp. That of course is why you are correct in saying race and religion needs to stay out of politics, a lesson for Jay.
Religion and race should stay out of politics, but that is the ideal world where we do not live.
In fact, neither Jay nor Dan will beat Kirk unless they properly work the appropriate churches in Waukegan and North Chicago. Terry Link is great at it and so was Susan Garrett when that was part of her district. Dan failed there last time. So much for idealism of you want to beat Kirk.
And, writing as a lifelong North Shore Jew, I was not at all offended by Jay’s mailer, but was offended at Dan Seals' comment in the Tribune Wednesday that he has not moved into the district because his lack of millionaire status makes him unable.
It makes me feel Seals does not know our district very well. I have supported Jay because I have always felt he is the far better candidate, not a popular thought on this blog. The millionaire comment has given me a negative on Dan where one did not exist before.
Anon@5.51p, when I said that Israel was about sixth on my list of priorities, I meant it. To see what the Bush cabal has done to MY country in the last seven years makes me cry at times. I am an American first and a Jew second, just as most people I know are Americans first and (insert religious identification) second.
While I care about Israel, I think it's terrible that the Bush government has done NO attempts at peace-making in the region until just recently. And, when you think about what Bush has done in the region with attacking Iraq, I can hardly think that has made Israel any safer. Do you?
We have so many problems here at home, from deteriorating infrastructure to terrible schools to health-care deficiencies that I can concentrate on those problems first. Israel comes after those. Call me terrible, but I'm being quite honest.
Funny enough, the code to put in to publish this comment is "goyrf".
Oops, make that "made" no attempt at peace-making in the region.
scott, Jay could do anything and not offend you, so you're not much of a judge of anything. Too bad the constitution means so little to you. It's kept American Jews safe and prosperous for years.
Too bad I live nowhere near DC and am a very liberal Democrat.
You guys seem to want to make everything a race issue. Want to know of some other politicians who have made anti-semitic or anti-Israel remarks? Try Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, or Ron Paul.
Your prodigal son, Dan Seals, has said that he supports negotiations with the terrorist organization Hamas, and would come down on the side of peace in conflict between Israel and Iran, which has been designated a leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world long before the bush administration came to power.
I know Bush is the worst president in history and think he's an idiot just as much as the next guy. Why are you fighting with me as though I'm a republican? I support Jay Footlik, Democrat for IL-10.
Jay has just as much a right to send targeted mailers to any demographic whose vote he wants, as much as a young politician has the right to court the youth votes, or an African American has the right to court those votes.
You are the ones making this about race and religion.
This country's domestic issues and security are just as important to me as they are to you. The security of the only land for Jews - and the Middle Eastern country where gay Arabs and women have the greatest rights, too - is equally important to me.
Fortunately, you don't have to choose with Jay - he believes in universal health care, withdrawing our troops from Iraq (yes, invading Iraq was bad for Israel), and stopping foreign dependence on oil.
Luckily, Israel's security and America's security are usually linked, as Israel is the only true democracy - and our only true ally - in the Middle East.
You delusional Jay supporters are totally pathetic as you resort to labeling Dan's comment that he is not a millionaire as egregious. Talk about supremely petty and grasping at straws! Dan was right to say that voters want to talk about issues, (which Jay is unable to do)
But if you want a rebuttal,
Dan OWNS a house now in Wilmette. His children attend schools in Wilmette and he'd like to keep them there, for obvious reasons of continuity, community and friends. Selling a house in this market is not that easy, even if it has become a buyer's market. Jay can say all he wants because he didn't make much of an investment in this area, with an apartment with an opt out lease. Now if Jay sold his house in DC and then bought a house here, that would show a greater commitment, especially if he had to take a loss on the sale. Better yet, let him do what he suggests Dan should do- just go out and buy another $400,000 house and keep both. That's where the millionaire comment from Dan came from. This just makes Jay out to be a very negative,lying campaigner - and he's alienating more people everyday.
When Jay rents temporarily, you praise him for his fiscal responsibility, when Dan is circumspect with his investments, you disparage him and say you find him offensive. You Jay supporters, (all two of you), need to take a course in logic 101.
Oh, and I saw Team America commenting on Jay's behalf. If that doesn't say it, nothing is going to dent your delusional brains. If Jay polled today, his numbers would be even smaller.
Well I don't mean to pile on to anonymous 5:51 p.m. but when you state "especially with all the intelligence and defense sharing.." I wouldn't give high marks on any intelligence gathering considering the path to the war we are fighting, the total lack of preparedness in terms of ground defense, planning and the potential conflict with Pakistan and Iran.
More Importantly as EBGill has shown, when we let religion over rule us we lose something in our strength as citizens of America. This is a republican/rovian tactic to try to divide us. Lest we forget what Lincoln taught us about united and divided. We are as conflicted and divided as a nation now as we were during the civil war, perhaps worse.
So much blathering by the Kirk and Footlik supporters, but not a one of them ever posts their real full name, not a one of them answered where did Jay get the names for his "targeted" mailing, and not a one of them ever answers the ultimate questions, what will Israel do when the US is no longer a democracy and why do you insist on sacrificing the US for a hollow promise by the likes of Kirk, Giuliani, Romney and Huckabee to protect Israel they can change it easily when you no longer have a say?
Ellen Beth, I think you said it best, below:
"what will Israel do when the US is no longer a democracy and why do you insist on sacrificing the US for a hollow promise by the likes of Kirk, Giuliani, Romney and Huckabee to protect Israel they can change it easily when you no longer have a say?"
You know when you're on an airplane and the flight attendant instructs you to put your own mask on before helping others? Well, that's what we thinking Americans have to do in the next election. We have to save ourselves, so we can save others, like Israel.
Jay Footlik is a one-issue candidate and the stakes are way too high to vote on one issue. Those days are over.
ah, anonymous 5:51 and 9:18, I do admit being wrong. The site meter was an hour behind. I see the matching IP addresses and that your server hails from Winnetka. Sorry for the mistake. Do tell though Winnetka, where did Jay get the names? Did he take the risk or did he get a known exclusively Jewish list and from where if not a group that should not be engaging in politics?
Ellen, if Jay were to offend me I would not put it here. You need no help in that realm.
For the most part, I keep my keyboard silent when Dan offends me, but this millionaire thing was too much. It was too much because he was sarcastic rather than honest with his response.
Now, since you want some criticism of Jay, he, like Dan, should have left the residence issue alone. When the Tribune asked, they should have both remained silent rather than go after each other. It does not help either one and is something Kirk can’t touch since he moved here from D.C. to run in 2000.
Speaking of Kirk, we’re all giving him plenty of ammunition, which is what you foster each time you start things like your attack of the mailer or a defense of Dan’s residence. Keep it up. Mark will thank you in the end.
Winnetka, this has nothing to do with Footlik's "right" to send targeted mailers, and no one has questioned anyone's rights. It's about judgment, and it's about priorities. Everything Jay has done and said in the last several months has demonstrated that his priority is not the best interests of our district or beating Mark Kirk or working on most of the key issues we face. He has dropped in temporarily, after never (never) having lived in the district and not living in the state for ages (decades?), with a lease he can dump with 30 days notice, and all he is doing is dividing the Democrats and assaulting our very strong candidate. Apparently he is also currently running a very nasty push poll. Again, it's all about judgement and there is simply no contest between him and Dan Seals.
You’re right, 10thDem, there’s no contest between Jay and Dan. Dan was a second choice in 2006 after Jay decided not to run. Now that I’ve met, seen and heard both, it must have been a distant second. Jay’s superiority shines through to anyone with open eyes, which is why his support is growing at Dan’s expense.
And, when it comes to who has and hasn’t lived where, you don’t know what you’re writing about. Not only has Dan never lived in the district, he moved to Wilmette three years ago and cannot even be sworn in to Congress unless he moves. Yes, that’s right. Melissa Bean was redistricted out of the eighth, but Dan cannot claim that.
Jay, on the other hand, lived in Vernon Hills between 1998 and 2003. He is a Buffalo Grove resident now. And, whether he rents or buys is a financial decision for him to make and not us to criticize. If Dan loses the primary to Jay by a vote, it will be because Jay voted for himself and Dan voted for Jan Schakowsky.
The comment that Jay was a first choice in 2006 is an outright lie. I was there and yes a few people wanted Jay for a short time, but once people met Dan, Jay was easily forgotten. Myself and many others were never for Jay. Before I met Dan, I was actually hoping for another candidate, a woman who was a nurse. She was feisty and self-assured. When she decided not to run, I met Zane and Dan and was happy with the choices. I liked Zane Smith far more than Jay, he was true to his own beliefs and fought for working people in his own career. I saw Zane and the fighter and Dan as the policy maker. Jay was always the DC political hack.
Greg, Scott, Winnetka, still no answer to my question. Where did Jay get those names to send the mailer? Surely he wanted to catch the Jewish Smiths and leave off the non-Jewish Bergs, did he get lists from somewhere?
Haha, still wrong - not from anywhere near Winnetka. Guess your site is malfunctioning...or is that just you?
Ellen, does Dan Seals share his lists or sources of lists with you? If you want to know where Jay got his mailing list, you’ll need to ask him.
What I can tell you is that my home in the district with a Jewish name is on the mailing list for JUF, ORT, Aipac and our synagogue. We didn’t get the mailer. Go figure.
no, I said your server resides there, does not mean that's where you live. If you use cable or dial up, it will depend on where your lines originate.
Anyway, no fault on my part. I am upfront and honest about who I am. You could be too, but I guess your support for Footlik only goes so far as anonymous posts. You must be pretty unsure of him as you do not stand behind your words.
ellen, sitemeter can be off and this is not exact, but from a look at your site meter it appears the 11:12a comment from the house.gov domain coming off the site of that wackjob who you kicked off your site. your first instinct was likely the right one.
If you were to change the jewish references to african-american would this still fly?
I am SO OFFENDED by this (btw I am a middle aged jewish identified voter)
Greg is an outright liar. Jay was never a first choice candidate- he was always just one of many, and never even made it to the starting gate. I was there at the first meeting Jay had with a group of Democrats, interviewing. Only half of the small group present even wanted to consider him as a candidate and those people who objected to him then feel exactly the same now, for the same reasons. Only now, even the supportive group did not want him to run. Jay polled, and slunk home to let Dan make the tough inroads on the frontlines. Jay is like Bush, on the Mission Accomplished boat.
He couldn't get any traction, even with a small group of people, even after being badgered by an aggressive, lying supporter. They didn't want him then, and they don't want him now. Either you are lying or you've been misled, but this seems to be the hallmark of the Footlik campaign.
I would ask this of his supporters. Look around you and see the company you keep. If spinning.smearing and lying is all you can do to keep your candidate's head afloat, how can you hold up your heads without shame? Another question you should ask is 'which candidate has really made the Democratic party stronger?" If you're honest, you know that Dan is the candidate who brought us all together and Jay is the one trying to wedge us apart.
I was also there at the first meeting of Jay and a group of 10th district Democrats. Jay has been telling people that he was "asked to run" when in fact HE asked US to listen to him. As mentioned above, he received mixed reviews. I actually thought he was fine, but he disappeared without a word and then Dan showed up, and everyone was so much more inspired by Dan. Plus Dan was willing to take on Kirk when Footlik was not. I think Greg will see in February who is a far 2nd choice.
Not being Jewish and not having seen this mailer other than on this blog, I can say it is very, very weird. It makes me think that if Footlik was a radio station, he would be called "All Israel. All the Time." I just don't see anything wonderful in him, unless you are an old Jewish grandma, maybe.
The mailer does not offend me as much as it makes me feel sorry for Footlik and whoever his team of advisors are. I am willing to give Dan Seals another chance against Kirk. At least Seals has a broad appeal on a variety of issues. Footlik is nothing more than a fluff ex-Clinton aide with nothing much to offer than being Jewish. That certainly won't fly in Arlington Hts. And please don't call me anti-semetic. I am not.
I was very turned off by the "meshuganah" ad, but understand why it was made because I think that the north shore Jewish population is Footlik's best hope for election, though I don't think the population is big enough to pull out a win. As I come from Jewish parentage, I found it in very bad taste to the point of embarrassing. Could you just imagine a Dan Seals "black" version of the same ad?
Also, since I have some very mixed feelings about Israel's political/military decisions and am not willing to support a candidate who at least positions himself as staunchly pro-Israel rather than pro-peace, though I know I should not assume that Footlik would not be objective about Israel. I admittedly do not know his positions well enough to judge, but he and his advisors must see a need on the north shore for a candidate who at least appears to have a pro-Israel bias. Why else emphasize that his wife is an Israeli artist?
I am still for Dan Seals.
Lisa Crowe
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