'Confused' donors think Michele Bachmann is Jewish: The wisecracks (The Week)

New York ? Mitt Romney is reportedly having trouble raising cash from Jewish donors who think the overtly Christian Bachmann is Jewish. Cue the jokes

Mitt Romney has a Jewish problem, according to the New York Post. Romney fundraisers tell the Post that some Jewish donors are politely turning them down, saying they'd rather give their money to rival presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, whom they mistakenly perceive as the "Jewish candidate." It's a curious claim: The conservative Minnesotan is a Lutheran who touts her strong Christian faith as a selling point to GOP voters. Nevertheless, the mix-up is apparently so pervasive that some in the Romney camp "have been wondering whether Bachmann and her allies are pushing the 'Jewish' rumor to help their own fundraising," the Post says. Commentators are skeptical about the Post's "thinly sourced, barely credible story," but not enough to resist snarking. Let the quips roll:

An honest mistake
Sure, Bachmann "literally talks about Jesus all the time," says Dan Amira at?New York. But she also "has a plausibly Jewish surname," talks about spending time on a kibbutz, and "like every GOP candidate, would lay down in traffic for Israel."

What's in a name?
"Doesn't every American Jew know that -mann names are invariably non-Jewish?" says Jonathan Chait at?The New Republic.

Talk about chutzpah
These "sorely confused" donors probably "spotted Michele's mangled attempt at the word 'chutzpah' on the retirement home's 24-hour Fox News Channel beam," says Kirsten Boyd Johnson at?Wonkette, referring to the candidate's much mocked mispronunciation of the word earlier this year. (See video clip).

A new definition
"Turns out 'chootspuh' is a real Yiddish word after all," tweets Media Matters contributor Ned Resnikoff. It means "to somehow acquire the mistaken belief that Michele Bachmann is Jewish."

You want Yiddish?
Mistaking Bachmann for a Jew is "the dictionary definition of 'oy vey,'" tweets Texas Tribune editor in chief Evan Smith.

Hey, maybe she is Jewish
And "at age 13 she had her Bat-Shit Mitzvah," tweets comedy writer Danny Vermont.

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