The Tennessee Republican Party is all shook up that anyone would think that they intended to smear Barack Obama by using his full name and photo of him dressed in traditional African garb in a press release under the headline, "Anti-Semites for Obama."
In a statement, Chairman Robin Smith said:
The Tennessee Republican Party expresses thanks to the numerous people who have called to express support for the strong stance that we have taken in defense of the nation of Israel.
Our Monday, Feb 25, press release alerting voters that Sen. Barack Obama has foreign policy advisers and endorsements rooted in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views has been twisted by Democrats who would prefer to scream “racism!” rather than deal with Obama’s real and worrisome record.
To their discredit, Republicans did not save the first dance for Obama. In 2006, Harold Ford Jr. was on their dance card. In the U.S. Senate race, opinion polls showed Ford had a comfortable lead over Republican Bob Corker. And then the GOP struck up the band.
After the GOP played the race card, Ford lost the election by less than three percentage points.
