Allen Campaign Hits Another Awkward Moment

September 20, 2006 — -- There's only one word for it: strange. Or maybe two words: very strange. That pretty well sums up what the fates prescribed for Sen. George Allen's re-election bid this year.

The latest in a series of bizarre controversies centers on the Virginia Republican's recently discovered Jewish heritage. During a Monday debate with James Webb, his Democratic opponent, Allen snapped at a Washington, D.C., television reporter who asked whether his ancestors included Jews: "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think it's relevant. So I'd like to ask you, why is that relevant?"

The exchange with the reporter quickly gained steam on the Internet, where bloggers called on Allen to answer the question.

On Tuesday Allen confirmed his Jewish connection in a written statement, slamming the reporter's question as "reprehensible." The reporter, Peggy Fox of WUSA-TV, said she got the idea from an article in the Jewish weekly newspaper The Forward, which has looked into Allen's possible connection to a Jewish family that moved to Italy centuries ago.

In his statement Allen wrote, "I was raised as a Christian, and my mother was raised as a Christian. And I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbruso family line's Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed."

Allen acknowledged that some people may wonder why he was never curious about his family's history. He said his parents taught him that what counts are a person's virtues: "not race, gender, ethnicity or religion. And so whenever we would ask my mother through the years about her family background on her side, the answer always was, 'Who cares about that?'" Allen said he hopes people will respect his mother's privacy.

Jewish leaders have been split over how the senator has handled the questions about his heritage, questions that predate the one asked by the TV reporter this week.The Allen campaign accused the Webb campaign and liberal bloggers of trying to inject anti-Semitism into the campaign. The Webb campaign swiftly denied the charge. Allen's campaign manager said any attempt to bring religion into a political debate was "inappropriate."

Inappropriate or not, will it have any impact on the Virginia Senate race? No one seems to know for sure. A Republican consultant who did not want be quoted by name on what he calls an "unpleasant" subject, said: "This will blow over quickly. The only downside for George is that it is another distraction. And he doesn't need any more distractions."