Behind the News, The Water Cooler
Waiting For Macaca
The reporter who broke the news of Virginia Senator George Allen’s Jewish ancestry tells how she got the story.
By Paul McLeary Fri 22 Sep 2006 04:03 PMIn late August, the Forward’s Eve Kessler published what was to become a blockbuster story, raising the issue of Virginia Senator George Allen’s Jewish heritage. Since then the Virginia Senate race has become the chattering class’ favorite topic — yet it seems no one has gone back to look at how she got the scoop. Kessler recently left the Forward after more than nine years, to become the associate op-ed editor at the New York Post. She continues to be a contributing editor at the Forward.
Paul McLeary: Since your piece last month in the Forward exposed Senator Allen’s Jewish heritage, the story has blown up into a minor national obsession. How did you initially come to the story?
Eve Kessler: A tip … I actually learned about it probably more than a year ago, so I knew about it and had done this research long before the “macaca” episode.
PM: Allen has long been on a short list for running for president on a Republican ticket, so the tip probably came about because his name had been out there?
EK: Right. I covered the 2004 campaign for the Forward, and I wrote extensively about the Jewish background of some candidates, so this was something that grew out of that.
PM: So you sat on this story for some time after you first learned about it. Were you waiting until Allen became more prominent on the national political stage?
EK: Yes. It was the kind of thing, “When was it going to become relevant?”
PM: After you got the tip, how long did it take for you to do the research and put the piece together?
EK: I worked on it intermittently over a number of months as I reported other stories, so it’s hard for me to say how long it took, but I consulted genealogists in America and in France.
PM: Once you had his mother’s maiden name, was the research much easier?
EK: The thing about it is that there are clues all over his sister’s book, and it was just a matter of checking things out and, you know, it’s standard reporting.
PM: That book has become a focal point of a few different pieces, including the New Republic article about Allen’s obsession with Southern iconography.
EK: Well, it’s tremendously revealing, even in more ways than she knows. As I said, it’s full of information about her mom that, when you read this book, you see that her mom is a Jewish woman.
PM: Was there any sort of pushback to your piece, either from his campaign or from other people?
EK: No, as far as I understand it, he read the piece with interest, or so he said in his statement. I tried to contact them, but they didn’t respond.
PM: What’s your take on Allen’s reaction so far?
EK: It’s kind of been all over the map. They seem to have changed their story three times, so I’m not sure if from their standpoint whether the candidate’s reaction has served them too well.
PM: So, even given the book and your research, did you feel any reservations about publishing the piece?
EK: Obviously, without any confirmation from [the Allen campaign], and I tried to reach Jennifer Allen, too — but I was very confident about the story, because his mother’s family was a prominent and wealthy family. People in France knew who her father was and that he was part of this family. The chances of her father being married to a Christian woman were like zero, so that’s it.
CJR
padikiller
Fri 22 Sep 2006 05:36 PMYou have GOT to be kidding me here!...
Sen. Allen's jewish heritage is "blockbuster" story?.... Even though he didn't even comment on it himself?....
What about John Kerry's Jewish heritage, for crying out loud?....
Was CJR tripping over itself to describe that particular pre-election revelation as a "blockbuster" story back in 2004?...
Hardly!...
What's the REAL story here???...
CJR has an incumbent Republican to whack and only a month and a half to do it before the election...
So let the whacking begin!....
What a hatchet job!....
GET REAL GUYS....
matt
Fri 22 Sep 2006 09:04 PMNo, the REAL story here is that Sen. Allen is a bigot.
He reacted badly when asked the question at the debate. Kerry did not.
Allen intimated that being called Jewish was a casting of aspersions. Kerry did not.
Allen called a dark skinned Virginian a "maccacca." Kerry did not.
Allen had a noose on his desk as governor and a confederate flag as part of his "flag" collection. Yeah right.
Nothing to see here, just another bigoted southern (fluent in French and from California) Republican.
parisikov
Sat 23 Sep 2006 09:37 AMI don't get it. I am Jewish, I live in Virigina. I don't like Allen's politics. I will vote against the idiot.
But why in the world should the religion of his mother or his grandmother mean anything in the world to me? Anything?
This kind of pathetic inquiry, masquerading as serious journalism, serves only to perpetuate a shrill and surface-laden poltical culture.
There are better things to scrutinize in a candidate, especially this one.
padikiller
Sun 24 Sep 2006 09:21 AMmatt wrote -- No, the REAL story here is that Sen. Allen is a bigot.
padikiller -- While I don't think it is fair to conclude that Allen is a bogot (using a single racially-loaded term -if it was one-as a joke on a single occasion doesn't rate labeling a man a "bigot" in my opinion)-- I do agree with Matt that Allen's use of a racial joke is the REAL story here...
He said it... And he needs to be held accountable for it... The voters have a right to hear it.. And the press should cover the story....
BUT......
What on EARTH does the man's ancestry have to do with anything?...
Why does CJR consider this issue a "blockbuster" story... When after the SAME thing happened to John Kerry, CJR offered not a peep?