JEW UPSET?

Following in the footsteps of other pols "discovered" to have Jewish roots in the midst of a campaign — Sen. John Kerry, D-Ma., Gen Wesley Clark — Sen. George Allen, R-VA, has been grappling with how to deal with the revelation that his maternal grandfather, Felix Lumbroso, was Jewish.

When he was asked about this at a debate on Monday, Allen’s response was rather hostile (and the crowd seems to have been with him; check it out on YOUTUBE.)

But after much criticism that Allen seemed to regard questions about his Jewish heritage as somehow perjorative — "He was visibly uncomfortable and called it an ‘aspersion,’ " J. J. Goldberg, editor in chief of the Forward told the WASHINGTON POST, "What is it that makes him so uncomfortable with it? It raises more questions about who the guy is" –Allen’s campaign YESTERDAY ISSUED A STATEMENT in which the embattled incumbent said, "I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line’s Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed."

Mazal tov!

– jt