Posted on 02/05/2010 6:29:54 PM PST by neverdem
Several readers have now forwarded this rather stunning piece of mail that slams Bob Friedrich, who will face off Tuesday against David Weprin in a special election to fill the Queens Assembly seat vacated by Weprin's now-councilman brother, Mark.
The mail features a Swastika superimposed over a generic photo of police tape. It arrived in mailboxes in Glen Oaks, a 10,000-person co-op on the Nassau/Queens line that is heavily Jewish.
As you can see from the mailer that appears in full after the jump, Friedrich himself was on the mailing list.
The piece accuses Friedrich, who, like Weprin, is Jewish, of being an "extremist" who is "out of touch with our community's values." According to Friedrich's campaign manager, Jay Golub, this stems from comments Friedrich made that murder should carry a heavier penalty than hate crimes.
The mailer - at least the one I've got - doesn't indicate who paid for it. But Golub sounds certain it was Weprin's campaign.
"This was so haphazardly done that he didn't even take Bob's name off the list," Golub told me. "We're offended by this and the community is offended by this. I'm not even certain what the message is supposed to be...A guy with a German last name is anti-Jewish? It's so over-the-top that I'm dumbfounded. I don't know what to say."
Last fall, Mark Weprin easily defeated Friedrich in a Democratic primary for the Council seat David Weprin gave up to run a failed bid for comptroller. Friedrich stayed in the general election on the GOP line and lost that, too.
This latest Friedrich-Weprin match-up isn't nearly so cut-and-dried, however. Friedrich, while still a registered Democrat, is running on the GOP and Conservative lines and says he'll conference with the Republican minority if he wins.
Turnout is expected to be very low, and clearly David Weprin's campaign in nervous about the electorate in the post-Scott Brown era. The two candidates are also fighting about gay marriage.
UPDATE: Friedrich himself e-mailed me to say he will hold a press conference Sunday with civic and religious leaders to "stand together to denounce this type of hate-inspired campaign tactic."
Also: Weprin was endorsed by The Jewish Press earlier this week.
UPDATE: Weprin's campaign manager Corey Bearak confirmed the mailer is indeed from his side of the fence. He sent the following statement:
"It's not offensive to make sure people know just home extreme Republican-Conservative Bob Friedrich is; this extremist opposes hate crimes legislation - it's offensive that Republican Bob Friedrich actually opposes hate crimes legislation."
"Crimes driven by anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia and other prejudices deserve special attention and warrant extra-tough penalties. As a Jewish community leader who speaks out against anti-Semitism and other hate and it’s outrageous that an extremist like Friedrich, who is also anti-gun control and against Roe v. Wade, would run for office in our community. He will be rejected on February 9th."
Hat tips to Free ThinkerNY & Clintonfatigued! I have hope for rats who are anti-gun control and against Roe v. Wade. May this backfire on Weprin.
These people don't get out enough.
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FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
The Weprins are an incompetent local verison of the Kennedys. They are corrupt and think that the seat belongs to them.
I love how Freidrich was mailed one of these smears, because he is a Jewish Democrat.
Thanks for the ping!
LOL! The mindless use of a computer generated list. Technology bit them in their butt.
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