Collateral Attack

There was a debate today between the candidates for the GOP nomination in the US Senate race here in California. With California facing a recurring fiscal crisis, and the GOP facing the best chance in years to actually unseat Barbara Boxer, it is natural that the three GOP hopefuls would discuss ... Israel: California Debate Focuses on Support for Israel

Former congressman Tom Campbell on Friday used the first debate in the California Senate race to demand that his challengers not engage in a "whispering campaign" claiming he is against Israel or is an anti-Semite.

Campbell and his two opponents in the Republican primary, former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, participated in their first debate, hosted by Sacramento radio station KTKZ-AM. Fiorina joined by telephone.

Campbell requested the debate after his opponents began questioning his support for Israel. Their attacks were based on his voting record when he served in the House of Representatives, and a campaign donor who later was revealed to have ties to a U.S.-listed terrorist organization.

The debate took a sharper turn after the Los Angeles Times reported that Fiorina's campaign manager, Marty Wilson, told former California secretary of state Bruce McPherson that Campbell was an anti-Semite.

Wilson denied he had said it, but the report spread quickly across the Internet and worked its way into news stories.

Fiorina and DeVore subsequently questioned whether Campbell was sufficiently supportive of Israel during his five terms in office.

"There's no place for calling me an anti-Semite and then denying it," Campbell said about a topic that dominated the first half of the hour-long debate. "That whispering campaign, that silent slander stops today."

OK, on the one hand, I can't believe we are discussing this in the context of a California Senate race when there are about 100 other issues I'd rather hear about (it's highly reminiscent of Steve Poizner's peculiar focus on Iran and other War on Terror matters during his failing campaign for the governor's race). On the other ... having learned that Campbell solicited donations from Sam al-Arian means there's no way I'm going to vote for him, so Mission Accomplished, I guess.

UPDATE: Bruce at Maggie's Farm has a good summary of the debate's highlights. He gives the advantage to DeVore. CA Senate Debate's Kneees and Elbows

In sum, Fiorina’s platitudes and bullets were unexciting, pedestrian ball-handling. Campbell is competent in defense and offense. DeVore demonstrated deeper and more articulate defense, dribble and shoot skills based on deeper hands-on experience.

UPDATE 2:Here's a Democrat who also thinks DeVore came out on top: DeVore's Golden voiced Take Down Of Fiorina and Campbell

What impressed me most about Devore during this portion of the debate was the enormous amount of experience he has regarding the Middle East, which can be key in forming effective policy in the US Senate. Because he studied at the American University in Cairo, he (at least at one point), spoke Arabic fluently and had a grounding in Islamic religious and political thought. For example, during the debate, he actually talked about the history of circa 1948 and 1967, and provided background on Trans-Jordan. While Fiorina kept on saying Jerusalem was the Israeli capital, Devore put the situation more in context. Jerusalem is the country’s capital, although it is not recognized internationally as such; Israel’s main financial center is Tel Aviv and it is where the American embassy will remain until the Israelis deem it safe to move to Jerusalem.

UPDATE 3: Apparently, Campbell responded to Fiorina's attacks of his Israel position by responding that HP was selling ink to Iran (through a subsidiary) during her tenure at that company. Jesus Freakin' Christ (see the above linked article):

What was most disconcerting for me, as a member of a military family who had men serving in Iraq, was Fiorina’s tenure at Hewlett Packard. During the course of the debate, I learned about HP’s use of a Mideast distributor called Redington Gulf to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of copiers and other products to Iran during Fiorina’s tenure — naming them “Best Wholesaler” in 2003. This occurred while she was the head of this company! It was also during this time that Iran was supplying parts to terrorists in Iraq that were used against our troops.

UPDATE 4: The consensus appears to be that DeVore "won" the debate, while Campbell hurt himself, and Fiorina came across as pedestrian (even as she was leading the attacks on Campbell). Conservatives are obviously pulling for DeVore, and he certainly has an impressive background for someone in the California legislature. Still, he is sorely lacking in the name recognition of his rivals. Campbell has been in CA politics seemingly forever, while Fiorina is a member of America's pseudo-celebrity class. And, DeVore can certainly anticipate getting as little media attention as is humanly possible. It'll be an uphill battle, but the cause is just.