Tomorrow, Mitt Romney will formally announce his candidacy for the presidency at the Henry Ford Museum, drawing the ire of Jewish groups because of Ford’s long record of virulent anti-Semitism, most notable in his book, The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem. When I heard last week where Romney intended to announce, I immediately sensed it would cause controversy, but I avoided bringing up the issue because I personally believe that Romney is speaking there in the context of a talk on innovation, and I don’t think he harbors any anti-Semitism himself. I’m surprised that the Romney camp wasn’t more prepared to address this criticism though, or somehow pre-empt it. Perhaps it’s just the fact that I’m Jewish, but whenever I think of Ford, I instantly think of two things: cars and anti-Semitism. Didn’t the Romney camp anticipate this? They sure don’t want to be putting out fires the day he announces.
