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Is Sarah Palin Jewish? UPDATED

By Ron Kampeas · October 8, 2008

The short answer is, probably not.

You might have seen the genealogies circulating on the net - here’s one - claiming she’s a descendant of one Schmuel Sheigam, a Lithuanian Jew.

I’ve run the info past folks at the National Archives. A search of immigration records shows no Sheigam - or Sheeran, as the Ellis Island transformation would have it, according to these accounts - arriving in 1915. (And yes, all possible spellings were run.) Sheigam doesn’t turn up, period.

There is a grain of truth in this, as there often is with urban myths: Records (ship manifests, censuses, property records etc.) show that Sheeran is indeed a common Irish American name, and one that some immigrants, evidently Jewish, adopted upon their arrival.

I asked the McCain-Palin campaign about this, they never got back to me (not that I blame them, I’d also prioritize screwy queries about ancestors low on my to-do list); but it’s worth noting that they had earlier confirmed that she had been baptized a Roman Catholic. (She is no longer a Catholic.) That would comport with Irish ancestry, the more common association for “Sheeran.”

What’s odd about this phenomenon is that I’m getting asked this by Jews, when the myth is being perpetuated by anti-Semites. ("Why do some people dislike Jews” as a hedder is what we call an obvious giveaway; more subtle is the use of the word “Jewess.")

One version of this I saw suggested that John McCain wanted his old pal and fellow U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as his running mate, and relinquished at the last minute. Again, a grain of truth here - my own reporting confirms this. Where it gets loony is in the why: Joe, apparently, was not simply too moderate for McCain’s advisers - he was too clearly part of the Zionist conspiracy. McCain, according to this fiction, was told to go with the stealth Jew. That explanation is echoed in the above website (see under “This would explain a lot.")

None of this means the Alaska governor doesn’t have a Jewish ancestor somewhere on the tree - it’s not exactly uncommon in immigrant nations; especially in America, which has a wonderful history of welcoming all stripes of newcomer, unlike the sad sacks who run the conspiracy websites.

UPDATE: A number of readers (starting with both commenters below) have pointed out that there’s a comprehensive Sarah Palin genealogy here and that it contains nary a Chosen One. Case closed.

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Sarah Palin, Mazen Asbahi and the stifling of democracy

By Ron Kampeas · August 31, 2008

The attempt by some Democrats to paint Sarah Palin as a supporter of Pat Buchanan is probably the most baseless political attack in, well…. Weeks.

At least since the Obama campaign’s Arab-American outreach director quit because, well, he seems to have done exactly the right thing when he encountered a radical Islamist.

More on that in a minute.

Palin, the vice-presidential pick of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and now the governor of Alaska, sported a Pat Buchanan button in July 1999 when Buchanan visited Wasilla, the town she then led as mayor. (Buchanan, of course, has long been reviled for intimating that Jews control foreign policy, that American efforts to stop Hitler made little sense, etc. Not beloved by the Jews.)

That led the local AP reporter to flag her as a supporter of Buchanan’s presidential bid. That report was picked up in the last few days by the liberal blogosphere and she has now been transformed into a “strong" Buchanan supporter.

Except that, in real time, she corrected the impression in a letter to a local newspaper: “When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I’ll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect,” she wrote in a letter to the Anchorage Daily News in 1999.

I don’t entirely blame the blogger who originated the story – AP stories are likelier to come up much higher in Nexis searches then letters to the ADN editor. But, geez, couldn’t U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) have waited a little before calling McCain’s selection a “direct affront to the Jewish community”? It turns out she was an official – not just a supporter – of the Republican primaries campaign of Steve Forbes that year. (Buchanan had bolted the GOP and was running as a candidate of the Reform Party.)

That should have killed the story. But Buchanan then said he remembered her attending a fund-raiser for his 1996 GOP candidacy bid. (His sister Bay Buchanan now tells Politico it might have been for Jerry Ward, a local ally of Buchanan.) It seems credible – Buchanan, now an MSNBC analyst, corrected host Christ Matthews, who thought it had been 1992.

But so what? Let’s take what we know about Palin-Buchanan: She might have attended a fund-raiser in 1996. She didn’t give any money to Buchanan’s campaign, however, nor to Jerry Ward, and was not an official of the campaign. (Ben Smith of Politico has uncovered a list of officials of the Alaskan Buchanan campaign that year; Open Secrets tracks only two $300 donations in her name: one to the state Republican Party, and the other to a Mike Miller, a GOP state senator.)

So, in 1996, perhaps Palin and her husband were intrigued by Buchanan, whose hallmark then was how he melded social conservatism with protectionism. Todd and Sarah Palin are social conservatives who strongly believe in unions: natural targets for Buchanan.

They meet Buchanan, and evidently decide he’s not their man: no donation, no role in the campaign.

In a sane political world, this would define Good Judgment. Maybe Buchanan’s isolationist foreign policy turned them off. Maybe it was even something Buchanan said about Jews that kept their checkbook shut.

Instead, it’s used to indict her judgment. Yes, Jews have long known what Buchanan is; can we reasonably expect a small-town Alaska mayor to share our depth of knowledge to the extent that she wouldn’t even bother to check him out? By setting such impossible standards, we’re killing political curiosity, we’re creating a political environment so safe it’s doomed to stagnate. (Let me add here that the National Jewish Democratic Council has shown the good taste to ignore the Buchanan affiliation and has instead focused - legitimately - on her socially conservative policies.)

And by “we” I don’t just mean Jews, I mean the entire political culture. Take the case of Mazen Asbahi.

Earlier this month, the Chicago lawyer quit as the Arab and Muslim American outreach director for the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). His sins: He served with Jamal Said, a radical Imam who has praised Hamas, in 2000 for a few weeks on the board of a foundation. Asbahi apparently quit when he learned that Said was on the board.

Again, in a sane world, this would be considered Good Judgment. Instead, once the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report revealed the tidbit and it got picked up by the Wall Street Journal, Asbahi quit, saying he did not want to harm the campaign.

Asbahi’s other sin, cited by the Global Muslim thingy, was that he is active with the Islamic Society of North America. ISNA may or may not have roots decades ago in the radical Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. It was an unindicted coconspirator in a case against alleged fund-raisers for Hamas – the case failed, and the feds often use “unindicted coconspirator” as a pretext to facilitate legal searches (and, in any case, “unindicted” means just that.)

These days, ISNA explicitly repudiates Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists. These days, it includes meetings with Holocaust survivors in its exchange program for teenagers from Arab countries, precisely because the students have been exposed to a distorted understanding of the Shoah. (Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, the director of the Orthodox Union, was visibly moved last week at the Democratic Party convention when ISNA president Ingrid Mattson described those meetings.)

So Asbahi is a man who will not associate with radicals, who is active in a Muslim group that is doing exactly what Jewish groups say they expect of Muslim groups – but the Obama campaign accepts his resignation and the Republican Jewish Coalition perpetuated the Asbahi distortions in its weekly e-mail.

Shame on the Democrats, shame on the RJC. They are helping to make it dangerous to Vote While Muslim. I don’t need to explain why this is Bad for the Jews (or any minority.)

These calumnies may create convenient, even sticky, associations in the battle for the Jewish vote: McCain with Buchanan, Obama with radical Muslims.

But they cost us deliberation, nuance and curiosity – underpinnings of a successful democracy.

UPDATE: Suzanne Kurtz of the RJC called to note that the RJC simply forwarded a Wall Street Journal article on Asbahi, whereas Wexler and the DNC initiated the Buchanan-Palin trope. Noted: starting a smear is not as bad as perpetuating one (Kurtz does not acknowledge that the Asbahi slurs were a smear). But it still smells.

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NJDC: ‘Particularly strange’ pick

By Ami Eden · August 30, 2008

Ira Forman, executive direction of the National Jewish Democratic Council, argues that “for a party which claims it is trying to reach out to the Jewish community McCain’s pick is particularly strange.”

Here’s the full statement:

Today, Senator John McCain made his first critical presidential decision with his selection of his Vice Presidential running mate. McCain’s judgment appears lacking.

In Governor Sarah Palin McCain chooses a running mate with zero foreign policy experience and a brewing scandal which is being investigated by the Alaska state legislature. The contrast with Senator Joe Biden could not be starker and more unfavorable for the soon to be Republican nominee.

For a party which claims it is trying to reach out to the Jewish community McCain’s pick is particularly strange. Prior to today’s selection Palin apparently has never spoken publicly about Israel. Moreover, on a broad range of issues— most strikingly on the issue of women’s reproductive freedom— she is totally out of step with Jewish public opinion. The gulf between Palin’s public policy positions and the American Jewish community is best illustrated by the fact that the Christian Coalition of America was one of the strongest advocates of her selection.

2 Comments | Share This | John McCain, Sarah Palin, Veepstakes

RJC: Palin is an experienced and principled leader

By Ami Eden · August 29, 2008

The Republican Jewish Coalition praises Sarah Palin, and says she does have “a proven track record of experienced and principled leadership.”

Washington, D.C. (August 29, 2008) – Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks issued the following statement today:

“By choosing Governor Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential candidate, John McCain once again demonstrates good judgment and a commitment to challenging politics-as-usual. As governor of Alaska, Palin has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Alaska’s Jewish community. She has demonstrated sensitivity to the concerns of the community and has been accessible and responsive.

Palin has a proven track record of experienced and principled leadership. Palin has been a leader on the critical issue of energy independence and lessening our need to buy oil from nations not sharing America and Israel’s foreign policy interests.

Palin is anything but the typical Washington pick. A former commercial fisherman and mother of five children, Palin is an exciting and vibrant leader. She will bring a unique perspective to the presidential campaign. Her frontier spirit and triumph over adversity will benefit John McCain and the entire Republican ticket. Together, they are a dynamic team. They will show the American people that on the critical issues facing this country the Republicans have the right solutions. John McCain and Sarah Palin are ready to face the tough challenges ahead.”

7 Comments | Share This | Sarah Palin, Veepstakes

Lieberman’s old aide: Palin a big risk

By Ami Eden · August 29, 2008

Blogging for the New York Daily News, Dan Gerstein writes:

In picking an unknown, untested, half-a-term woman governor from Alaska to be his running mate, John McCain is following in a long line of reckless men who have rolled the dice for a beauty queen. Except in this case, McCain is taking one of the biggest, boldest gambles in modern American political history.

He’s betting his presidency on a naked political play for holdout Hillary supporters and other female swing voters - and hoping that a large share of these predominantly pro-choice women will ignore or overlook Palin’s staunch pro-life, anti-stem cell views.

But that’s just the better half of it. McCain will now have to pull off a grand slam of cognitive dissonance - trying to discredit Barack Obama as unready to be Commander in Chief while trying to pawn off the least qualified candidate put on a national ticket in our lifetime as the second best choice to lead the most powerful nation in the world.

In theory, Gerstein continued, the choice could end up helping John McCain shore up his standing as a maverick and reformer. But not likely:

[W]hile it’s plausible that Palin could prove a fresh-faced asset, the odds are that she will turn out to be a noticeable liability for McCain - if not an outright disaster. Running mates typically have little to no impact on voter decisions, but when they do, they tend to be negative. And Palin has the potential to hurt McCain in multiple ways.

6 Comments | Share This | John McCain, Sarah Palin, Veepstakes

Why not Schweitzer?

By Ami Eden · August 29, 2008

Hey, if Obama had known that John McCain was going to go with an obscure governor from a state with a tiny population, I wonder if he would have gone with Montana’s rancher-turned-governor Brian Schweitzer – a big hit at the convention.

Is he Jewish?

2 Comments | Share This | Veepstakes

Experience no longer needed

By Ami Eden · August 29, 2008

My initial thought on the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is that the entire narrative of this campaign, and the McCain line of attack against Sen. Barack Obama, is going to have to change.

Think about some of the main arguments that McCain backers have put forth about Sen. Barack Obama – and they’re even more true about Palin. If Obama is too inexperienced in foreign affairs and too much of an unknown to be president of the United States, then how is McCain’s pick fit to be one heartbeat away from the job (and a 72-year-old heartbeat at that)?

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McCain taps Alaska governor as running mate

By Ben Harris · August 29, 2008

Republican John McCain has picked a relatively unknown governor, Alaskan Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

We don’t know much about Palin, and neither do the Republican Jewish activists we’ve talked to. But here’s a quick rundown of some Jewish Alaska connections (No, Palin’s not Jewish, but what else are we supposed to do?):

• Alaska Airlines played a role in the airlift of Yemenite Jews known as Operation Magic Carpet.
• Michael Chabon imagined a Jewish semi-state in the actual Alaskan region of Sitka.
• Alaskan Jew Ethan Berkowitz, the Democratic minority leader in the state House of Representatives, is currently running for the state’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• The web address http://www.frozenchosen.org belongs to an actual Alaskan synagogue, Reform Congregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage.
• And Joel Fleishman, the nebbishy Jewish doctor on “Northern Exposure.”

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Polling for Joe L.?

By Ron Kampeas · August 26, 2008

Blogger Atrios reports polling that suggests John McCain isn’t just kidding when he says he’s considering Joe Lieberman as a running mate.

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Down memory lane with Joe B.

By Ron Kampeas · August 26, 2008

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) was selected as running mate by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in part because his years of foreign policy experience help make up for Obama’s relative greenness.

The problem, of course, is that plenty of experience means the occasional wrongfooting, especially with someone as, umm, loquacious as Biden.

Conservatives are digging and they’ve already come up with a (third-hand, mind you) account of a threat by Biden to cut aid to Israel in 1982. (Biden reportedly was furious at the increased pace of Israeli settlement at the time.)

Then there’s what appears to be an off the top of his head consideration of post Sept. 11 aid to Iran (see last two paragraphs).

Let’s see how the Obama campaign responds.

(Hat tip: NRO.)

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