Four months after voting "present" when the House voted to support Israel in whatever it wanted to do in Gaza, Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland is already feelin the heat (or the hate, depending how you see these things). Politico reports that she may be on the Cynthia McKinney track, a black progressive congresswoman targeted by the lobby for pro-Palestinian sympathies:
There are already signs that the Jewish community is preparing to back
a primary challenge to Edwards. Last month, Maryland Del. Herman Taylor
attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference
in Washington — in no small part, he said, to gauge support for a run
against Edwards.
“I have a lot of friends in the Jewish community,” Taylor told
POLITICO. “There seems to be a lot of people not completely thrilled
with her lack of support for Israel.”
“I do think there are people who would like to back a pro-Israel
candidate against Donna Edwards,” said Larry Fishbein, the president
and publisher of the Washington Jewish Week newspaper. “She is
certainly opening the door to another candidate who would be more
receptive to the Jewish vote.”
As if it's about a vote. Jews make up 15 percent of her district, per Politico. No, it's mostly about money. Happily, J Street defends Edwards. That may be the real news here. Cover in the Jewish community, and Jewish fundraising community, for Edwards's evenhanded views. Note Edwards's other infraction: she went to Gaza over Memorial Day. Israel too.
P.S. Headline in Politico: Should Edwards be Shvitzing? A Yiddish word for sweating, I think. Do we really need this cuteness when you're talking about political blackmail?
