Nevada has a special congressional election coming up. The candidates include Democrat Kate Marshall, Republican Mark Amodei, and independents Helm Lehmann and Tim Fasano. The race hasn’t been on the national radar screen very much… until now.
Marshall decided to issue a strong statement in support of Israel yesterday, because she’s running in a Republican district, and calculated it was important to shamelessly pander to the pro-Israel vote, since Israel has been in the news lately, and Glenn Beck is holding a rally in Jerusalem. How do I know those are her reasons for issuing the statement? We’ll get to that in a moment.
First, here’s the statement, as printed in the Las Vegas Sun:
The past several days have proven very challenging for the people of Israel. Last Thursday gunmen from the Gaza Strip entered Israel and launched coordinated attacks against a tourist bus and other vehicles en route to the seaside city of Eilat. The terrorists murdered eight people and scores more were injured.
In further escalation of violence, terrorists operating within the Gaza Strip proceeded to fire hundreds of rockets into southern Israeli cities. Rockets fells on homes, a religious school, and other civilian targets. One man was murdered, many people were injured including children, and among the injured casualties was a four month old infant.
While today terrorists are still firing rockets at civilians, Israel demonstrates its remarkable moral fortitude and continues to deliver aid- 150 truckloads of aid entered the Gaza Strip just yesterday.
Meanwhile, Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt are using these recent events as an excuse to direct harsh and dangerous rhetoric towards Israel. In light of this, I express my support for legislation introduced in Congress which would prohibit the United States from providing financial aid to Egypt if it fails to adhere to its obligations under the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
I express my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the Israelis who were murdered in the recent attacks. I call on the Egyptian government to denounce these terrorist attacks and to take stronger steps to prevent terrorists from using Egypt's border to enter Israeli territory.
I am proud to consider Israel a friend and I reiterate my unwavering support for its fundamental right to exist and the absolute necessity for Israel to secure its people from outside threats. I stand ready and willing to assist Israel in defending itself against all acts of terrorism.
Unfortunately, someone in Marshall’s campaign forgot to clip out the political background instructions attached to this statement, and they were included as the final paragraph in the email she sent out:
Background: Israel has been in the news lately, and will be even more in the news with Beck's "Rally to Restore Courage" in Jerusalem. In an R district, it will be useful to express support for Israel and demonstrate some foreign policy prowess while it is a timely topic - especially for people who are likely paying attention to Beck's event.
Oh well. At least she managed to avoid referring the voters she will never be able to fool again “teabaggers” or “terrorists,” in the note they weren't supposed to see.
