Casting aspersions in Virginia

In today's ultra-scrutinizing media world, most of what comes out of a politician's mouth during an election campaign is heavily censored, vetted by his advisors and approved by voter focus groups. Every once in a while, however, a candidate slips up and says something so mind-boggling that you nearly spit Red Bull all over your computer monitor. Sen. George Allen, a Republican running for reelection in Virginia, has caused two of these moments recently. While Allen's "macaca" moment garnered national scorn in August, another questionable incident at a debate last week has brought renewed scrutiny onto Allen's dubious personal beliefs.

By now, everyone with an Internet connection knows about the infamous incident at an Allen campaign event last month. In front of a mostly white crowd, Allen called a young Indian volunteer from his opponent's campaign "macaca," a racial slur used by European colonists to refer to the dark-skinned natives of Northern Africa. Though Allen originally claimed that he thought he was making a word up, doubts were cast on this story when it was revealed that his mother was born and raised in French Tunisia, where the slur was frequently used. Polls once showed Allen leading his Democratic opponent by as many as 31 points, but after the incident, his lead dropped to three. Moreover, Allen was once considered a front-runner for the GOP's presidential nomination in 2008. But, according to a recent APRI poll, 71 percent of registered voters are "far less likely" to vote Allen for president after his remarks.

The new tempest brewing for Allen concerns his conduct at a debate last Monday. It had long been alleged that Allen had Jewish ancestry, though each time his campaign was asked about the rumor they categorically denied it. At this debate, one of the panelists asked Allen directly "whether [his] forebearers include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?" As Dana Milbank wrote in The Washington Post, upon hearing the question Allen "recoiled as if he had been struck." After collecting himself, he launched into a lengthy tirade on the inappropriateness of the question, forcefully stating, "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think it's relevant, whatever one person believes, whatever their beliefs may be, is not relevant."

Out of nowhere, Allen had become a defender of the Establishment Clause and of keeping religious discussions out of politics. This position stood in stark contrast to his earlier rhetoric, such as when he told a Catholic charity organization that "Faith matters first and foremost to me," and that he "asked for God's guidance" when deciding to sign a bill requiring parental notification of a minor's abortion.

In the debate, George Allen had more to say in response to the panelist's religious question. "I was raised as [my mother] was, as far as I know, raised as a Christian," he claimed at the time. He finished by accusing the panelist of "making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs."

An "aspersion" is "a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation," according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Thus, according to Allen, being called Jewish was an insult, and the questioner was trying to "harm his reputation" by making people believe that he could possibly be a Jew. In the days after the debate, The Washington Post followed up on the question by contacting Allen's mother. Mrs. Allen revealed that she was born Jewish and that though she had hidden her Jewish roots once she immigrated to America, she had told Allen the truth last August. So, when Allen said at the debate that his entire family was Christian, he was knowingly and intentionally lying.

Since these revelations, George Allen has taken to the airwaves for an intense damage-control effort. He told Wolf Blitzer that he's "proud" of his Jewish ancestry, and he lied about it only because his mother wanted it kept a secret (but doesn't it seem strange that she would then freely give an interview to The Washington Post on that very topic?). The American public shouldn't buy George Allen's rationalizations and excuses. His gut reaction to being associated with Jews was to take it as an insult. It is frightening to consider that someone with Allen's twisted beliefs holds high political office in America and may still be reelected to the Senate this November. Jason Sheltzer is a molecular biology major from St. Davids, Pa. He can be reached at sheltzer@princeton.edu.