The Trail

DENIALS AND DENUNCIATIONS

McCain Team Seizes on Jesse Jackson's Remarks

Barack Obama's campaign responded quickly Wednesday to an instant flap over comments that the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson was said to have made to the New York Post over Obama's foreign policy plans.

John McCain's campaign seized on the remarks to suggest that his Democratic opponent would not be a strong supporter of Israel if elected president, while Jackson issued a statement saying his comments had been selectively reported and distorted.

Jackson has been no friend of Obama's -- earlier this year Jackson said he would like to castrate Obama -- but Jackson is a prominent Democrat, and his reported comments to the World Policy Forum in Evian, France, and in a subsequent interview at the forum with Post columnist Amer Taheri would give heartburn to any presidential candidate.

Among the most damning quotes: that although "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" remain strong, the "decades of putting Israel's interests first" would end once Obama became president.

Throughout the campaign, Obama has struggled against the perception among some Jews that he would not be a strong supporter of Israel, so the McCain campaign saw Jackson's remarks, which have been widely covered in the Israeli press, as a potential opening.

Randy Scheunemann, McCain's senior foreign policy adviser, said in a statement: "Barack Obama claims to be a strong supporter of Israel but his supporters -- here and abroad -- know better."

In a statement, the Obama campaign's national security spokeswoman, Wendy Morigi, distanced the candidate from Jackson and said Obama has an "unshakable commitment to Israel's security."

"Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama's views on Israel and foreign policy. As he has made clear throughout his career and throughout this campaign, Barack Obama has a fundamental commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, and he is advised by people like Dennis Ross, Daniel Kurtzer, Rep. Robert Wexler, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Senator Joe Biden who share that commitment," Morigi said.

Jackson himself denounced Taheri, according to the Associated Press, for "selectively imposing his own point of view and distorting mine," issuing a statement saying Taheri was trying to "to incite fear and division."

Jackson added that he "has never had a conversation with Sen. Obama about Israel or the Middle East."