Having volunteered some time for Emily's List in Arizona a few years back, I know that there are many good people in this organization. Their number one qualification for endorsing candidates is finding pro-choice women, but sometimes it is good to exercise some common sense (well all the time really). They failed to do that with Nikki Tinker, in her bid to unseat fellow Democrat and Congressman Steven Cohen. Simply put, her behaviors are inexcusable and have no business being endorsed by a supposedly reputable organization like Emily's List.
From TPM:
This brutal new attack ad from House candidate Nikki Tinker, who is challenging liberal Tennessee Rep. Steven Cohen in tomorrow's Democratic primary, just might be the nastiest, most race-baiting (and Jew-baiting) ad of the entire cycle:"While he's in our churches, clapping his hands and tapping his feet ... he's the only senator who thought our kids shouldn't be allowed to pray in school," the announcer says, referring to an old vote against school prayer from when Cohen was a state senator. And remember, this is coming from a Democrat.
Cohen is the only white Congressman from a majority-minority district in the South, and was elected largely because of the divided field of black candidates in the 2006 primary, which included Tinker herself. Tinker never really stopped running against him, and has picked up the support of EMILY's List and a few members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Furthermore, Cohen is a Jew -- which makes the "our churches" line all the more suspicious. Tinker's campaign has not yet returned our call for comment on what message the ad is supposed to communicate.
The ad is sickening to say the least. Local reporters know how bad this ad is, along with the rest of her disgusting voter outreach attempts over the airwaves. I wrote Emily's List that I find their support of Tinker to be outrageous, and you can let them know what you think right here as well. If NARAL can support Congressman Cohen, so should Emily's List.
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