Schumer’s Ad

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The New York Sun

Congratulations to Senator Schumer for having the good sense, apparently, to pull from the Web site of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee an advertisement depicting Osama Bin Laden, Kim Jong Il, and illegal Mexican immigrants. “Millions more illegal immigrants,” the Democratic commercial says, according to a report by the Associated Press. “Feel safer? Vote for change.”

Not even that legendary political genius Senator Charles “71%” Schumer predicted how that ad would backfire among Hispanic Democrats. A City Councilwoman from Houston, Carol Alvarado, who is a Democrat, wrote Mr. Schumer a letter asking him to take the ad down. “To liken Latino immigrants to bazooka-toting terrorists not only undermines the positive relationship our party has with this community, but also lowers us to a despicable level as breeders of unfounded fear and hatred.”

Ms. Alvarado, who was in the Bronx yesterday meeting with President Carrion and attending a Yankees game, had it exactly right. It’s a shame when the senator from New York, a city of immigrants, has to be taught such a lesson by a politician from the Lone Star State. President Bush has taken the high road in resisting the sirens of the anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party. We can understand Mr. Schumer wanting to leave no political issue unexploited in his effort to retake the Senate for the Democrats. But in pulling the ad, Mr. Schumer is saying beating up on immigrants is a step too far. Good for him, and for Ms. Alvarado for blowing the whistle on an ad that never should have seen daylight.


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