New York Times Southern-based reporter Adam Nossiter relayed a disturbing story about racism and anti-Semitism in a House primary in Memphis, "Race Takes Central Role in a Memphis Primary." But which party's primary? That's the one thing missing from Nossiter's Thursday piece -- the word "Democrat."
In the culmination of a racially fraught Congressional campaign in Memphis, a black candidate is linking her liberal-leaning white primary opponent in Thursday's contest, Representative Steve Cohen, to the Ku Klux Klan in a television advertisement.
Mr. Cohen's campaign said it was an unusually direct effort to inject race into the contest.
The advertisement for the challenger, Nikki Tinker, juxtaposes Mr. Cohen's picture with that of a hooded Klansman, and criticizes Mr. Cohen for voting against renaming a park in Memphis currently named for the Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Ku Klux Klan founder.
Credit Nossiter -- who is hypersensitive to signs of racism among Southern Republicans -- for covering this story. (One flier circulated in Memphis read: "Why do Steve Cohen and the Jews Hate Jesus?")
But to which political party do Tinker and Cohen belong? Robert Stacy McCain noticed the word Democrat is nowhere to be found, although you can infer it from Nossiter calling Cohen a "media-friendly liberal," and similar clues. Still, why no (D)? It's a pretty basic piece of information, and Nossister has never hesitated to point the finger at Republicans when he thinks they're playing the race card.
