Is Bloomberg Tipping His Hand?

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As I’m sure many of you know, there are plenty of emails floating around the Internet targeting Jewish voters and saying that Sen. Obama is secretly a Muslim — and a radical one at that. Let’s call those rumors what they are: lies. They are cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics. …

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This is wedge politics at its worst, and we’ve got to reject it — loudly, clearly and unequivocally. And how can we, as a people, not speak out against demagoguery and stereotype and whisper campaigns? Of all people, we know how hurtful these forces can be. We know the evils they can stir up and the violence they can inflame.

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Sen. McCain has done the right thing in denouncing this whisper campaign, which speaks to his character as a stand-up guy and an honest leader. After all, he knows what it’s like to be the target of a whisper campaign. He faced the same slimy, low-ball tactics during the 2000 South Carolina primary.

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And in this election, we must all stand up to this whisper campaign against Sen. Obama. That’s because it threatens to undo the enormous strides that Jews and Muslims have made together in this country — and the enormous strides that Jews and African-Americans have made together.