JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Were the kids wearing buttons too?

By Ron Kampeas · September 5, 2008

When will this Buchanan thing die?

This time, blame the Republicans (perhaps unwittingly) for perpetuating the false tale that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the vice presidential pick of Sen. John McCain (D-Ariz.), once backed Holocaust diminisher Pat Buchanan. (She wore a button as a courtesy when he visited her town.)

In a fundraising letter, Palin slammed "vicious" Democrats for attacks on herself, her family and John McCain.

Clearly, the viciousness of an attack is in the eye of the beholder, and attacks on candidates are par for the course. But attacks on candidates' families is another matter – so Jake Tapper of ABC asked the McCain-Palin campaign to elaborate.

All they had was the Buchanan smear. Tapper wrote:

In other words, they can't name one person affiliated with the Obama-Biden campaign who attacked the Palin family.