Congressional candidate removes controversial ads

A Democratic congressional candidate in Memphis is facing charges of anti-semitism over an ad that attacks her opponent for not supporting school prayer. Nikki Tinker, who is trying to unseat the incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen in Tennessee’s majority-black ninth congressional district, has made race and a religion focal points of her campaign ahead of today’s […]

A Democratic congressional candidate in Memphis is facing charges of anti-semitism over an ad that attacks her opponent for not supporting school prayer.

Nikki Tinker, who is trying to unseat the incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen in Tennessee’s majority-black ninth congressional district, has made race and a religion focal points of her campaign ahead of today’s primary. The new ad, in addition to an earlier clip which featured images of Klansmen, has now been taken down from Tinker’s youtube page.


The ad features the sound of a child praying in the background, as narrator attacks Cohen’s record:

“Who is the real Steve Cohen, anyway? While he’s in our churches clapping his hands and tapping his feet, he’s the only senator who thought our kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school. Congressman, sometimes apologies just aren’t enough.”

Cohen, who is Jewish, defeated Tinker in a crowded primary in 2006.

This morning, Sen. Barack Obama issued a statement condemning the ad. Obama has not endorsed a candidate in the race.

“These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It’s time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country,” Obama said.

In February, the Anti-Defamation League condemned a flier circulated in Memphis that said “Steve Cohen and the Jews hate Jesus.” A pastor from Murfreesboro, Tenn., 250 miles away, took responsibility for the flier.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal notes that Cohen has been honored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and writes that Cohen has amassed a “consistently strong” civil rights record during his political career.

Tinker has yet to comment on the school prayer ad, but said previously that the KKK ad, “merely states the facts.”


UPDATE: Via Politico, here’s the school prayer ad. Judge for yourself:

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