Not Quite the Party of Tolerance

There's a most ugly primary campaign underway in Tennessee involving Democrat incumbent Steven Cohen and Nikki Tinker. Cohen is Jewish. Tinker is black and apparently has no problem with someone passing around anti-Semitic fliers that state that Cohen and the Jews hate Jesus:

Cohen's main opponent in the August 5 Democratic primary in his predominantly African-American district is Nikki Tinker, who is black. The Commercial Appeal wrote an editorial in Wednesday's paper condemning Tinker for not speaking out against the anti-Semitic literature.

"What does Nikki Tinker think about anti-Semitic literature being circulated that might help her unseat 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen in the Democratic primary next August?" the editorial asked. "The question goes to the character of the woman who wants to represent the 9th District, and 9th District voters deserve an answer. But Tinker declined to return a phone call about the flier."

The editorial also noted that last summer Cohen came under attack from black ministers who challenged the congressman's support for federal hate crimes legislation to protect gay rights. The paper wrote that the "real motive" behind the ministers' attacks was revealed later by Rev. Robert Poindexter who, according to the Commercial Appeal, said of Cohen: "He's not black and he can't represent me, that's just the bottom line."

The Democrats have serious problems here. A group of them is purposefully running racist and anti-Semitic fliers to unseat a fellow Democrat. They're hoping that the largely African-American district will be swayed in favor of Tinker over Cohen.

UPDATE:
Captain Ed weighs in and wonders where all the critics are who complained about Huckabee's comments on religion to speak out against this. He also thinks that these tactics are now the norm after seeing how the top of the party has been using them without question.

Others blogging: Rhymes with Right and Redstate, who reminds folks that Cohen made news last year by attempting to join the Congressional Black Caucus because he represents a majority African American district, but the Caucus refused him entry.