Bachmann raising $ from people who think she's Jewish

[J. J.]

How can anyone with a modicum of knowledge about Michele Bachmann think she's Jewish?

The last name.

I once worked for a candidate in the mid 1980's named Holtzman, staunch Catholic, blond hair, blue eyes. She did not live in a Jewish neighborhood.  She was out campaigning and somebody said to her, "I'm not voting for you; you're a JAP."  She had never heard the term before and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not Japanese."

We actually had to figure out how to handle it, because the population was about 2/3 Catholic and I thing less than 3% Jewish.

It is quite common, unfortunately.

[J. J.]

What's a JAP?

"Jewish American Princess," a fairly derogatory term.  There were some references to it in literature and television in the 1970's and 1980's.  If you were under 40-45 at that time, you probably heard it.

Interestingly, Bachman did work one summer on a kibbutz and is fairly pro-Israel.  http://tcjewfolk.com/michele-bachmann-israel/  It might be more mutual interests.

I don't endorse the term "JAP," or "Jewfolk," either.

[J. J.]

Michele Bachmann's religious beliefs are correctly characterized for what they are, "Christian," and, not for what they are not, "un-Jewish."

Yes, it is rather "obvious" that Michele Bachmann is a believer in Jesus Christ.

Bachman was very upfront about her religious views in that article.  Like many Christians, she realizes that Christianity has its origins in Judaism. 

1.  She has a Jewish sounding surname.

2.  She is very pro-Israel.

[J. J.]

1.  She has a Jewish sounding surname.

Not especially.

In the US, it is.  Many "Jewish" surnames are either German or Eastern European in the US.

[J. J.]

1.  She has a Jewish sounding surname.

Not especially.

In the US, it is.  Many "Jewish" surnames are either German or Eastern European in the US.

On the other side, many surnames "can be Jewish". BROWER is an example, and I have no Jewish ancestry before 1800; the Brower ancestor that came to the New World in the 1640s was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. 

The first Jews of New Amsterdam almost all had Spanish or Portuguese surnames.

Well, there were Jews in the colonial period, the Solis-Cohen family in Phila, for example, but most of the Jewish population of the US have ancestors that came here in the 1800's, generally from the Germanies or Eastern Europe.

As pointed out, I know people with the surname Holtzman, Abrams, Bergman, Jacobs, Rosensteel, and Rosenberger, none of whom are Jewish, nor have Jewish ancestors (and my old girlfriend, who was Jewish, had the surname Brown).  Many people assume, from the name, that they are Jewish.

I can see people making that assumption about Bachman.  Coupled with Bachman's fairly pro-Israel stance, and that she worked on a kibbutz in Israel one summer, I can sort of understand why someone might jump to that conclusion.