RJC: Facts, shmacts

Capital J

By Ami Eden · July 15, 2008

Yesterday I put up a post about the Republican Jewish Coalition's apparent goof in issuing a statement slamming Barack Obama for planning to bring Chuck Hagel with him when he visits Israel. I say goof because the Obama campaign says Hagel – the Nebraska Republican who has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy – is not joining the Democratic nominee in Israel (both senators will be taking part in a congressional trip to Iraq and Afghanistan).

When I posted yesterday, the RJC statement appeared to be an honest mistake, so I didn't make a huge deal about it, and even noted that Hagel is rumored to be under consideration to be Obama's Veep or Pentagon chief. (Why would this be of concern to some Jewish voters? Well, the RJC cited this statement put out in 2007 by the National Jewish Democratic Council.)

But now the statement has been up for nearly 24 hours, and the RJC shows no signs of amending it or taking it down, a point made quite clear in this exchange that the RJC's communication director, Suzanne Kurtz, reportedly had with Sam Stein of HuffingtonPost.

UPDATE: I'm told the RJC will be issuing a new statement very shortly.

UPDATED UPDATE: Here is the new statement.