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Ga. Newcomer Turns to Jews To Oust Rep. McKinney's Dad
ATLANTA — After mounting a successful campaign to encourage thousands of Republican voters to oust Rep. Cynthia McKinney in last week's Democratic primary, a small group of Atlanta-area political operatives are hoping for Jewish backing in their bid to unseat her father from his seat in the Georgia State House.
Georgia State Rep. Billy McKinney, 75, drew fire last week when he said in an election-day television interview, "Jews have bought everybody." When asked to explain his daughter's political difficulties, he responded: "J-E-W-S."
McKinney, a senior Democrat in the Georgia state house and well-known civil-rights leader, has held his seat for 30 years with little difficulty. But he was forced into a September 10 runoff after failing to gain the required majority. He beat 31-year-old political newcomer John Noel 48% to 46% in last week's Democratic primary.
The race follows two Middle East proxy wars in which Israel supporters helped bankroll the defeats of Cynthia McKinney and Birmingham, Ala., Rep. Earl Hilliard, who both received donations from pro-Palestinian backers. But with only a state house seat up for grabs this time, and opposition to Billy McKinney centering more on his controversial remarks than Middle East positions, it is unclear if Arab-American donors will enter the fray.
It seems more likely that the race will inflame black-Jewish tensions. Several African-American political figures are already charging that Jews are attempting to choose black leaders.
"I definitely have some feelings about any outside group exerting this kind of influence in a race, and I've been receiving angry calls from black voters all day, saying they should rally against Jewish candidates," said Texas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson last week in an interview with The New York Times. The Democratic chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Johnson added: "To have non-African-Americans from around the country putting millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders for expressing her right of free speech is definitely a problem."
The "problem" shows no sign of going away — Noel told the Forward that Jewish donations to his campaign have increased since Billy McKinney's controversial television interview. "The number of Jewish folks who have called me and offered financial support has been nothing short of outstanding," Noel said. "I think it's a one down, one to go feeling."
In a press release last week, the Anti-Defamation League's southeastern director, Deborah Lauter, condemned Billy McKinney's "J-E-W-S" remark, labeling it "classic antisemitism." He caused a similar stir in 1996 after calling his daughter's opponent a "racist Jew," a comment Cynthia McKinney repudiated.
Members of the ad-hoc group which helped derail the younger McKinney, using a Web site registered to the name goodbyecynthia.com, say they expect to mobilize Republicans to crossover in the primary runoff and vote for Noel, an electrical contractor who has done much of his campaigning door to door. Since no Republican qualified for the general election, the winner of the September runoff will represent the state house district, which covers part of Atlanta and suburbs in Cobb County.
"I'm grateful for their support," Noel said, referring to Republican voters. "When the choice is as stark as Billy McKinney or myself, and the showdown is solely in the Democratic primary, it seems logical that Republicans would cross."
While there is no party registration in Georgia and voters can choose in which party primary to vote, observers estimate that 40% of McKinney's district would identify themselves as Republican. But few participated in the GOP primary last week, making the majority eligible to vote in the Democratic runoff.
Some Republicans may have helped Noel register his surprise showing last week, in which he held his own against an Atlanta institution. "No one thought this guy had a prayer," said Noel aide John Garst, a political consultant with Atlanta-based Rosetta Stone Communications.
At a press conference this week, high-profile supporters of McKinney announced that they would be introducing legislation in the state House to bar crossover voting in Georgia, a freedom enjoyed by voters in a number of other states.
McKinney's office did not return a call seeking comment.
The activists behind the goodbyecynthia.com effort introduced goodbyebilly.com this week in preparation for the runoff. Mark Davis, a Republican political database specialist in Deluth and a key organizer of the bipartisan effort, said that the group raised money through its first Web site from American Jews across the country who opposed what they felt were McKinney's anti-Israel positions, and Republicans angry over remarks she made suggesting President Bush might have known about September 11 before it happened.
Davis estimated that half the donations to the goodbyecynthia.com effort were from Jews. "We couldn't have done it without them," he said.
That money was used for mailings, phone banks and Web site expenses to encourage Republicans and swing voters in DeKalb County to vote for "anybody but Cynthia" — and the efforts appeared to play an important role in Cynthia McKinney's 16-point loss to Denise Majette, a Democrat with nearly 20 years under her belt as a local judge.
"Everybody involved in this effort is offended by the mouth of his," Davis said, referring to the senior McKinney. "I can't believe we have a sitting legislator who would get on TV and make comments like, 'It's the Jews.'"
Davis predicted an even greater level of American Jewish support following McKinney's televised remarks. Noel estimated that Jews, many of them Republican, make up 5% of the district.
A number of DeKalb County Jewish groups and volunteers helped Majette with her effort, including supporters who handed out fliers at Atlanta's expansive Marcus Jewish Community Center, located in Dunwoody in Northern DeKalb County.
Assistant Rabbi Noach Shapiro, of Ahavath Achim Synagogue in the Buckhead section of the senior McKinney's district, said that a number of his congregants were "outraged" by the state representative's comments. But, the rabbi added, he hadn't yet heard of an organized effort by members of the Jewish community to vote for Noel.
"I supported John Noel before McKinney made those remarks," said Leon Goldstein, a civil and workplace mediator in Atlanta. "Those remarks were the icing on the cake."
Goldstein, who identified himself as a Democrat, is a board member of the ADL southeastern region.
McKinney, a senior Democrat in the Georgia state house and well-known civil-rights leader, has held his seat for 30 years with little difficulty. But he was forced into a September 10 runoff after failing to gain the required majority. He beat 31-year-old political newcomer John Noel 48% to 46% in last week's Democratic primary.
The race follows two Middle East proxy wars in which Israel supporters helped bankroll the defeats of Cynthia McKinney and Birmingham, Ala., Rep. Earl Hilliard, who both received donations from pro-Palestinian backers. But with only a state house seat up for grabs this time, and opposition to Billy McKinney centering more on his controversial remarks than Middle East positions, it is unclear if Arab-American donors will enter the fray.
It seems more likely that the race will inflame black-Jewish tensions. Several African-American political figures are already charging that Jews are attempting to choose black leaders.
"I definitely have some feelings about any outside group exerting this kind of influence in a race, and I've been receiving angry calls from black voters all day, saying they should rally against Jewish candidates," said Texas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson last week in an interview with The New York Times. The Democratic chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Johnson added: "To have non-African-Americans from around the country putting millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders for expressing her right of free speech is definitely a problem."
The "problem" shows no sign of going away — Noel told the Forward that Jewish donations to his campaign have increased since Billy McKinney's controversial television interview. "The number of Jewish folks who have called me and offered financial support has been nothing short of outstanding," Noel said. "I think it's a one down, one to go feeling."
In a press release last week, the Anti-Defamation League's southeastern director, Deborah Lauter, condemned Billy McKinney's "J-E-W-S" remark, labeling it "classic antisemitism." He caused a similar stir in 1996 after calling his daughter's opponent a "racist Jew," a comment Cynthia McKinney repudiated.
Members of the ad-hoc group which helped derail the younger McKinney, using a Web site registered to the name goodbyecynthia.com, say they expect to mobilize Republicans to crossover in the primary runoff and vote for Noel, an electrical contractor who has done much of his campaigning door to door. Since no Republican qualified for the general election, the winner of the September runoff will represent the state house district, which covers part of Atlanta and suburbs in Cobb County.
"I'm grateful for their support," Noel said, referring to Republican voters. "When the choice is as stark as Billy McKinney or myself, and the showdown is solely in the Democratic primary, it seems logical that Republicans would cross."
While there is no party registration in Georgia and voters can choose in which party primary to vote, observers estimate that 40% of McKinney's district would identify themselves as Republican. But few participated in the GOP primary last week, making the majority eligible to vote in the Democratic runoff.
Some Republicans may have helped Noel register his surprise showing last week, in which he held his own against an Atlanta institution. "No one thought this guy had a prayer," said Noel aide John Garst, a political consultant with Atlanta-based Rosetta Stone Communications.
At a press conference this week, high-profile supporters of McKinney announced that they would be introducing legislation in the state House to bar crossover voting in Georgia, a freedom enjoyed by voters in a number of other states.
McKinney's office did not return a call seeking comment.
The activists behind the goodbyecynthia.com effort introduced goodbyebilly.com this week in preparation for the runoff. Mark Davis, a Republican political database specialist in Deluth and a key organizer of the bipartisan effort, said that the group raised money through its first Web site from American Jews across the country who opposed what they felt were McKinney's anti-Israel positions, and Republicans angry over remarks she made suggesting President Bush might have known about September 11 before it happened.
Davis estimated that half the donations to the goodbyecynthia.com effort were from Jews. "We couldn't have done it without them," he said.
That money was used for mailings, phone banks and Web site expenses to encourage Republicans and swing voters in DeKalb County to vote for "anybody but Cynthia" — and the efforts appeared to play an important role in Cynthia McKinney's 16-point loss to Denise Majette, a Democrat with nearly 20 years under her belt as a local judge.
"Everybody involved in this effort is offended by the mouth of his," Davis said, referring to the senior McKinney. "I can't believe we have a sitting legislator who would get on TV and make comments like, 'It's the Jews.'"
Davis predicted an even greater level of American Jewish support following McKinney's televised remarks. Noel estimated that Jews, many of them Republican, make up 5% of the district.
A number of DeKalb County Jewish groups and volunteers helped Majette with her effort, including supporters who handed out fliers at Atlanta's expansive Marcus Jewish Community Center, located in Dunwoody in Northern DeKalb County.
Assistant Rabbi Noach Shapiro, of Ahavath Achim Synagogue in the Buckhead section of the senior McKinney's district, said that a number of his congregants were "outraged" by the state representative's comments. But, the rabbi added, he hadn't yet heard of an organized effort by members of the Jewish community to vote for Noel.
"I supported John Noel before McKinney made those remarks," said Leon Goldstein, a civil and workplace mediator in Atlanta. "Those remarks were the icing on the cake."
Goldstein, who identified himself as a Democrat, is a board member of the ADL southeastern region.
For more information:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.08.3...
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McKinney, a five-term member of Congress, has long been known for racial invective; more recently, she accused President Bush of concealing foreknowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks in order somehow to profit from them--though it later developed that she had taken thousands of dollars in donations on Sept. 11 from Arab-Americans, some of whom backed or allegedly participated in terror groups. In the only understatement of her political career, McKinney declared in her concession speech: "It looks like the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me."
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/baroneweb/mb_020829.htm
Even more surprisingly, McKinney's father, state Rep. Billy McKinney, was forced into a runoff. McKinney père managed only 48% of the vote against political unknown John Noel, who got 47%. Billy McKinney is openly anti-Semitic; on the eve of his daughter's defeat, he declared, "Jews have bought everybody. Jews. J-E-W-S." McKinney and Noel face off a week from today.
http://fox5atlanta.com/elections/race55.html
Cynthia McKinney's defeat vindicates the Supreme Court's wisdom in limiting states' ability to create racially segregated voting districts. McKinney and Majette are both black, and Barone reckons that McKinney got some two-thirds of the black vote, in a district that is roughly half black. But as Majette realized, a hater can't win in a diverse district. And as blogger Nick Marsala notes, Majette is a moderate Democrat, favoring low taxes, gun rights and a strong defense and endorsing Supreme Court rulings limiting racial preferences. It's easy to imagine Majette as an attractive statewide candidate--something that can't be said of McKinney, or of many other black congressmen, who've never had to compete for votes outside their own community.
http://arrogantrants.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_arrogantrants_archive.html#80894509
More good news for black political aspirations: Writing in the Washington Post, American University's David Lublin notes that two other black Democrats in Georgia--state Sen. David Scott and Champ Walker--are likely to win election to Congress in November from districts that are less than 45% black. (Scott won his primary; Walker is favored in a runoff.) Just about everyone has reason to celebrate--except Republicans, who had benefited from racial gerrymandering, since concentrating heavily Democratic black voters into segregated districts made it easier for the GOP to win neighboring ones.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A123-2002Aug26.html
Also losing in last month's primary was Rep. Bob Barr. Democrats controlled Georgia's redistricting, and they drew the lines so that Barr ended up facing another conservative Republican incumbent, Rep. John Linder. Barr has a rather grating personality, while Linder is inoffensive, but Barone notes that the real reason Barr lost was that many more of Linder's constituents than his were in the new district.
One pol who won't suffer the ignominy of a primary defeat is Andrew Cuomo, the erstwhile housing secretary, who has dropped out of next week's Democratic primary for the governorship of New York, which father Mario once held. New York 1, a cable news channel, reports that Cuomo, trailing by 22 points in the polls to state comptroller Carl McCall, "is looking to secure his viability for a future run at political office." Cuomo's departure makes McCall a shoo-in in next Tuesday's primary; he'll face Gov. George Pataki, the man who beat Cuomo's dad, in November.
http://www.ny1.com/ny/TopStories/SubTopic/index.html?topicintid=1&subtopicintid=1&contentintid=24046
Well if he said it's AIPAC the average American wouldn't know what he was talking about. Is AIPAC for people besides Jews?
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/election2002/0911mckinney.html
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/election2002/0911mckinney.html
A McKinney candidacy would certainly be a treat. Imagine watching her defenders on the far left fall all over themselves to condemn her, the way they did two years ago with Nader.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/election2002/0912mckinneypres.html
Earlier this year, I was one of 42 Members of Congress who wrote to President Bush to urge the release of Sikh and other political prisoners in India.
Apparently, this irritated the Indians because the newspaper article I am inserting in the Record along with this statement shows that they admitted that they invested heavily in the effort to defeat me. To my colleagues of both parties who have also been involved in the effort to expose India's brutal record, I say: Watch out; they are coming after you, too.
http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/immigdaily/congress_news/2002,1002-mckinney.shtm
I hope the McKinneys find a way to blame the Zoroastrians for their losses (Billy lost his seat in a runoff). It's not that I have any brief for or against the Zoroastrians; I'd just like to see Billy and Cynthia try to spell it.
Or is it only the spelling proficiency of your straw-man opponents that concerns you?
Why don't you issue correctives to all the illiterate rightists that post on Indymedia?
I know it would be a big project, but I think you're up to it.
While all of the above were contributing factors to McKinney's defeat, the most significant cause was an outside force that mobilized strong support for her opposition. When asked to identify this force, Georgia state legislator and father of McKinney, Billy McKinney, stated to the media: "J-E-W-S." Indeed, it was the Jewish lobby that not only orchestrated, headed, mobilized and funded Congresswoman McKinney's defeat, these same organized Jews -- particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) -- also defeated Alabama's five-term Black incumbent, Representative Earl Hilliard, earlier this year. In McKinney's case, the Jewish lobby raised $1.1 million for Denise Majette -- $500,000.00 more than McKinney had in her war chest. By stirring up anti-McKinney sentiment in the local and national media and on the Internet - depicting her as racist, pro-Arab and militant - the Jewish lobby frightened many White Republicans into voting in a Democratic primary that they would ordinarily have ignored. Further, by exercising their age-old pressure tactics against Black leaders-threatening economic and political reprisals - the Jewish lobby forced them to withdraw their decades-old support for McKinney. How else do we explain why NAACP chairman Julian Bond, Democrat John Lewis of Georgia's neighboring 5th District, former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young, former Atlanta Mayor and U. S. Ambassador to the U.N., all maintained a conspicuous distance from McKinney during the critical period preceding the election?
Following the election, several prominent Jews applauded McKinney's defeat. They claimed that she was too radical, too critical of Israel and too supportive of Arab causes. While I share the outrage of many African Americans over this, the latest successful move by prominent Jews to silence outspoken Black leaders and to set the Black agenda, I also sense that there is greater indignation now than ever before over this ongoing affront. So much so that for many African Americans THIS IS INDEED THE LAST STRAW!!!
Consequently, it is high time -- no, long past time -- that African Americans everywhere re-evaluate the so-called Black/Jewish alliance. Some of our leaders, writers and thinkers have already rushed forward to pursue the normal Black course of action during times of crises between Blacks and Jews. For example, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is talking about healing the current rift so as not to endanger this important liberal, democratic alliance.
Furthermore, Professor Ron Walters has written a widely syndicated column that, in effect, minimizes the overarching impact of the Jewish lobby in McKinney and Hilliard's defeats. Walters focuses on collateral issues that, without the influence of the Jewish lobby, would have been as inconsequential in this election as they have been in the past.
This tendency of prominent African Americans to placate Jews by ignoring their excesses or deflecting criticism from them is precisely why so many Jewish leaders and organizations have consistently criticized, defamed, degraded and defeated certain Black leaders with impunity - AND WILL DO SO AGAIN. Jewish leaders have clearly decided that, no matter how widespread the outrage among Black people, if Black leaders - fearing Jewish reprisals-continue to cower before them, to rationalize their racism and to apologize for their flagrant disrespect for African Americans, Jews will suffer no consequences for their actions.
History teaches us that Jews are not the allies that so many African Americans think they have been. It is now widely known that Jews were as much involved in the African slave trade as Arabs and Christians. Prior to the Civil Rights movement, Jews as a whole in the North and South were no more outspoken against racism, segregation and discrimination than White Christians. Even during the Civil Rights Movement (which benefited Jews far more than African Americans), Dr. King's "Letter From A Birmingham Jail" was directed as much toward Jewish rabbis as toward White ministers, because Jews were generally no more sympathetic to the Black cause than were White Christians in Alabama.
Over the past thirty years, Jewish racism against Black people has grown exponentially. Whenever a Black leader has spoken out against Israel, criticized Jews or otherwise failed to comply with certain Jewish demands or opinions, organized Jewry has mounted a relentless campaign to destroy him. For decades, Israel was South Africa's staunchest ally, while American Jews tacitly endorsed this alliance. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that Black people everywhere have consistently sympathized with Jewish calls for recompense for their suffering during the Holocaust, many Jewish leaders and organizations have fervently opposed affirmative action for Africans Americans and, incredibly, now prominent Jews, like David Horowitz, of the Center For The Study of Popular Culture, and journalist Richard Poe, are at the forefront of the attack against the African American Movement in support of reparations.
Now, at the turn of the century, powerful Jews have also targeted Black Congressmen; in spite of the fact that nearly all of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus have consistently followed their White colleagues in voting in favor of U.S. military and economic support for Israel. Although the Jewish lobby has succeeded in defeating McKinney and Hilliard, some Jewish leaders are not jubilant over these developments and are eager to meet with prominent African Americans to mend fences. These Jews realize that, at this juncture in their history - more than at any other time - Jews need Blacks more than Blacks need them. After all, some Jews understand that Black people are the traditional American scapegoats who have shielded Jews from bigotry. In light of this, African Americans must now ask what have we received from Jews in return? The answer is clear: Control of Black organizations, stereotypes in Hollywood, attacks against outspoken Black scholars, like Dr. Leonard Jeffreys and Dr. Tony Martin, etc.
Through it all, however, Black people have remained loyal and sympathetic to Jews. But the rest of the world is another story. In their quarterly journal "Response", the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center reports rising anti-Semitism in Eastern and Western Europe, the entire Middle East, Asia and Latin American. Furthermore, in the United States, growing numbers of White Christians are, on the Internet and elsewhere, questioning America's blind loyalty to Israel that has insolated the U.S. and increased the threat of terrorism. And, like African Americans, many Whites are deeply disturbed over the Jewish influence in Congress that has also resulted in the silencing and defeat of certain prominent White Congressmen.
In light of the crisis before us, Black leaders must close ranks and act on one accord. The defeat of McKinney and Hilliard is not the work of a disaffected ally, but of cold blooded racists who are willing to block Black progress -- no matter what the cost to African Americans in a loss of power and influence - if it conflicts with the overall Jewish agenda. It is high time, at this historical juncture, for African Americans - the long-suffering, ever-obliging buffer between Whites and Jews - to step aside - and let Jews fend for themselves-so that White people will, at long last, stop focusing on Black people and get a good look at American Jews, whose McCarthyistic tactics and stranglehold on Congress threaten to make this country the United States of Israel.