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GILLESPIE SAYS ALLEN'S DISCOVERY OF JEWISH HERITAGE SHOWS 'HUMAN DIMENSION'

September 22, 2006 6:31 PM

ABC's Sunlen Miller reports: Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie, came to the defense of Senator George Allen's (R-VA), handling of two controversial matters in his senate reelection campaign: Allen's "macaca" comments and the question of his Jewish heritage.

In an interview with ABC's Sam Donaldson and Mark Halperin, Gillespie responded to the harshly criticized comments by Allen calling a Webb campaign worker "macaca." Gillespie insisted that Allen "didn't know the meaning of 'macaca' when he said it."

On the recent discovery that Senator Allen's mother was Jewish, Gillespie talked down the controversy, "He only learned about it a month ago himself and she swore him to secrecy."

Gillespie, the treasurer of Senator Allen's political action committee, Good Government for America, advised that voters will see this as a very human dimension to the Senator.

When pressed, Gillespie wouldn't say if Allen’s handling of the two controversial matters were a mistake or not, but admitted that the Senator needs to open up and, "do more in terms of revealing himself."

September 22, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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