OK, What The Hell Is EMILY's List Doing?

I was prepared to bash EMILY's List, which is by all accounts seems to be a fine organization, for endorsing Nikki Tinker, a Harold Ford/DLC clone who isn't personally pro-choice. Now, EMILY's List's ENTIRE raison d'etre is to support pro-choice women for elected office, so I'm not seeing the point here. Plus Rep. Steve Cohen, her primary opponent, is a great progressive, and they're not expanding the field of pro-choice legislators whatsoever by going after this seat. Cohen is a Jewish man in a predominantly black seat in Memphis, Tennessee, but that doesn't mean EMILY's List has to jump on board with any woman challenger.

But it doesn't stop there. Pam Spaulding writes:

In one Congressional race (Tennessee’s 9th district, which includes Memphis and environs), EMILY’s List is backing a candidate, Nikki Tinker, who is up against a pro-choice, pro-LGBT incumbent, Steven Cohen. Tinker’s campaign and surrogates have engaged in disturbing tactics that show how conflicts between core Democratic constituencies have erupted into ways difficult to paper over.

Rep. Steve Cohen, who is Jewish, was attacked in a flier (left, “Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen and the Jews hate Jesus") distributed by a black homobigoted pastor from Murphreesboro who is not even from Cohen’s district, Rev. George Brooks. Tinker, who happens to be black as well, and was called to condemn the flier. (WaPo):

[T]he literature encourages other black leaders in Memphis to ”see to it that one and ONLY one black Christian faces this opponent of Christ and Christianity in the 2008 election.”

The Commercial Appeal wrote an editorial in Wednesday’s paper condemning Tinker for not speaking out against the anti-Semitic literature.

“What does Nikki Tinker think about anti-Semitic literature being circulated that might help her unseat 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen in the Democratic primary next August?” the editorial asked. “The question goes to the character of the woman who wants to represent the 9th District, and 9th District voters deserve an answer. But Tinker declined to return a phone call about the flier.”

That's really disgusting. Is there any vetting going on at Ellen Malcolm's offices?

The real sad thing is that unless you get a group like EMILY's List aboard you can kiss a primary challenge goodbye. And this is who they decide to lend that power to. There is so much work to be done.