The next special election in the House is on April 13 in Florida’s 19th congressional district. I’ll have more on this throughout the day, but over on the home page, I note that the Democratic candidate is revealing himself to be one of those guys who talk a lot about how much they support Israel . . . but who suddenly go silent once there’s even a smidgen of political risk:
The district — encompassing a narrow, non-coastal strip of Palm Beach and Broward counties — has one of the most heavily Jewish voting populations in the country, and so naturally, the Democrat who seeks to be Wexler’s successor, state senator Ted Deutch, heavily emphasizes his pro-Israel bona fides. On his campaign website, Deutch emphasizes ‘security and peace for Israel’ along with the economy, education, and health care. The first line of his biography declares, ‘Senator Ted Deutch is an accomplished legislator who has passed legislation on critical issues benefiting seniors, public education, national security and victims of the Holocaust.’ He counts as one of his two landmark legislative initiatives in the state legislature a measure to require that state workers’ pension funds be divested from investments in Iran’s oil-and-gas sector…
As of Friday, ten days after the Israeli settlement announcement, Deutch had not put out any statement on developments in U.S.-Israel relations. Neither the candidate nor anyone from his campaign has been quoted in the local or national press about the recent controversy.
Ashley Mushnick, deputy campaign manager for Deutch, confirmed on March 16 that the lawmaker had not issued any statements on developments in the Middle East, but said she would relay National Review’s request for a comment. The campaign did not reply to additional requests.
He’s running for Congress, the biggest U.S-Israeli dispute in a generation breaks out, and suddenly the guy turns into J. D. Salinger. What, is the candidate trapped under something heavy, and unable to come to a phone?