Letter on Muslim radical roils GOP Senate race

[cory777]

Source: LA Times

By Seema Mehta
March 8, 2010 | 11:05 p.m.

Terrorism and the Middle East are continuing to roil the Republican Senate contest after a letter written by former congressman Tom Campbell emerged that appeared to contradict statements Campbell and his aides had made about his dealings with a radical Muslim professor.

The professor, Sami Al-Arian, contributed to Campbell's unsuccessful campaign in 2000 for the U.S. Senate. On Sept. 26, 2001, when he was teaching at the University of South Florida, Al-Arian gave an interview to Fox TV host Bill O'Reilly in which he conceded that he had said, "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel. Revolution. Revolution until victory. Rolling to Jerusalem."

Those statements quickly generated a furor and the university moved to discipline Al-Arian. Campbell, by then a law professor at Stanford University, wrote a letter to Judy Genshaft, the president of the University of South Florida, protesting any punishment.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-senate9-2010mar09,0,7419294.story

[zbdent]

1. so ... Campbell associates with terrorists???

actually, within the Republican party, that isn't so uncommon, but it doesn't get the media airplay like a Democrat stopping in at a 7-11 for a slushee ...

[Chef Eric]

2. He doesn't merely associate with them. He pals around with them. nt

[MidwestTransplant]

3. And Dick Cheeeeney broke sanctions with Iran. So what of it. Oh and Carlyle and the Saudis.

Lucky for them they aren't Dems.

[Flaneur]

4. Why play the Republican "terrorist" card for them?

Al-Arian supported the Palestinian liberation struggle. For this, he was harassed and indicted by the US government, which couldn't manage to actually convict him of anything. He eventually copped a plea to "providing support" to a Palestinian group, which must be "terrorist" because it opposes Israel.

[KamaAina]

5. He's the only repuke in the race with more than one functioning brain cell

his primary opponents are Carly Fiorina (R-Ran HP Into The Ground), who ran an ad characterizing him as a "demonic sheep" (seriesly!), and state Sen. Chuck DeVore (R-Teabagger). I wouldn't put it past either of them to be sliming Campbell like this.

[Arkana]

6. Tom Campbell...isn't he Barbara Boxer's closest competitor?

Not no mo'.