Suppose, for a moment, that there were a sparkling and youthful politician with a brilliant gift for oratory whose demeanor and message were attracting legions of young and previously uninterested voters.
And suppose further that this politician, a first-term senator from an urban state, were poised to become the first member of his ethnic group to be the presidential candidate of a major political party.
And suppose his name were Barry Cohen.
Wouldn't you be excited about one of us being this close to the American presidency?
And wouldn't you be worried?
Think about what we might find in our e-mail boxes and on the Internet, filling hours of talk radio and political television, and in "tell-all" books rising instantly to the top of the best-seller list.
Imagine, for instance, when naysayers discover that Barry's full legal name is Baruch Israel Cohen.
"Israel? An Israeli spy!" "The Jews aren't satisfied with the power they already have, they want an Israeli in the White House!"
And then there would be the reaction to the company he kept. What might turn up from a search of every writing, every word ever spoken by the clergy at the North Urban Community Synagogue? Inevitably there would be focus on the harsh, biting words of the synagogue's longtime senior rabbi, Rabbi Krank, for whom no American president has ever been sufficiently pro-Israel. Must Cohen disavow Rabbi Krank and leave the synagogue, even though the congregation has tolerated his strident sermons (with which many disagree) because the aging clergyman has an uncanny ability to connect teenagers with Judaism?
And imagine the talk when they search through the curriculum of Barry's elementary school, the North Urban Jewish Day School. "He spent half his day learning a foreign language, and immersed in prayer. What kind of education is that for an American boy?" "And what will it mean for the U.S. Department of Education?"
And there would surely be worse, much worse. Cohen's candidacy would invite the repetition and re-publication of every anti-Semitic canard ever heard - along with a warning to readers that they should not believe media reports, that these statements are untrue because, after all, the Jews control the media.
E-mail boxes worldwide would be groaning with forwards as one earnest citizen after another passes on these attacks with cover notes like, "Is this for real?" or "Doesn't this worry you?" without stopping to search for the truth.
And we would be very, very upset at all of this.
Does all of this strike a familiar chord? It should, since Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has been afflicted with endlessly repeated accusations, smears and falsities. Those slurs were parodied on the July 21 cover of The New Yorker magazine in a cartoon showing Obama in Muslim dress and Michelle Obama holding a machine gun, fist-bumping in the Oval Office.
Perhaps your graphic imagination could "draw" the response a Barry Cohen candidacy might draw in satire. It would not be pretty.
The Obama campaign spent considerable resources confronting the smear problem. To some extent it is politics as usual, akin to the Swift Boating of Sen. John Kerry in 2004. But the racist nature of the attacks - the appeal to hatred of Muslims, to suspicion of African Americans (some of whom are religiously Muslim) - makes it even more offensive.
For Jews, it should be crystal clear that Obama-as-Cohen would be faced with equally offensive attempts to frighten good Americans away from voting for a candidate whom they otherwise might choose.
And yet, we Jews are part of the problem. Every one of the Obama smear forwards I have received has been sent by a fellow Jew. And I am not alone. Poignantly, one of my students came up to me, clutching his SmartPhone, and asked, "What am I going to do about my grandma?" His quite obviously beloved grandmother had sent him one of the Obama-as-terrorist/Muslim forwards.
It was then that I first thought: "Tell her: Suppose his name were Barry Cohen?"
Whether Democrats, Republicans or independents, we have an ethical obligation, even during election campaigns, to comport ourselves in accord with the highest ethical value imposed upon us as Jews. As presented to us by the sage Hillel: "What is hateful to you do not do to your fellow." (Shabbat 31a)
This simple but critical ethical standard must remain in our minds throughout this campaign and those in the future. To follow it, never ever hit the "forward" button on any e-mail, even if the message makes you upset and angry, until you've engaged in both research and thought. Is the message truthful? Misleading? Relevant? Check the smear victim's Web site to see what it says about the issue, and then take some time to think.
All candidates need and deserve this consideration: Sen. John McCain certainly isn't immune from outrageous charges.
If the message you have received is either factually or ethically in error, don't just delete it. Hit the "reply all" button and tell your friend or relative, and all of that friend or relative's other friends and relatives, why you believe the e-mail is wrong and should be stopped in its tracks.
And when you see smears in print or on the Internet, or hear them on radio or television, shout back (by letters to the editor, by blog posts, by picking up the phone and dialing in).
I am not so naive as to think that we will change the minds of the creators of the smears - any more than the testimony of Holocaust victims has ever had any impact on the evildoers who preach Holocaust denial. But shouting back limits the ability of purposeful spreaders of lies to convince others of their wrongheaded beliefs.
Our actions are not just needed to support a fair race between McCain and Obama. Without our thoughtful approach to promoting truth in politics, the candidacy of Barry Cohen - whenever it might happen - can never succeed.
Marsha Cohen is a professor of law at University of California Hastings College of the Law.
