Ellison, Fields Clash Over Whether GOP is ‘Bigoted’

Republican 5th District Challenger Chris Fields is attacking Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison’s portrayal of the GOP as “bigoted” in an article Thursday.

The incumbent told Mother Jones that a part of the Republican Party platform alluding that the United States is threatened by Islamic Shariah law “is an expression of bigotry,” adding later:

And this is the thing: I don't mind debating taxes and spending; we probably should. But they're the party that is basically a bigoted party and they have now officially declared themselves against a whole segment of the American population, because if we said we were going to put a plank opposing Jewish law, or Catholic canon, it would be an outrage. This is also an outrage. But you know, it'll pass.

Fields fired back in a fundraising letter to supporters:

In an interview yesterday with the liberal blog Mother Jones, Keith Ellison expressed his hatred for the Republican Party when he blasted the GOP as “a bigoted party”. … As always, Ellison has been trying to rid politics of any and all opposing thought.  Opposed to his, that is.

Is this the type of rhetoric and behavior you want from a sitting Congressman?  I certainly don’t!

Fields also slammed at the Democratic National Convention. Ellison encouraged Bay State Democrats to campaign for Elizabeth Warren, who is in a close contest with first-term U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.

"Other than re-electing Barack Obama, reclaiming the seat of Teddy Kennedy is the most quintessential priority of our party," Ellison said.

Fields said Ellison’s priorities are mixed up:

Which state does Keith Ellison represent—Minnesota or Massachusetts?

Based on the lack of time he spends in the 5th District and his antics at the Democratic National Convention this week, you’d think Massachusetts! 
Now I may not have a law degree like Ellison, but last time I read the Constitution, it didn’t say one of the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seats belongs to the Democratic Party.  Unfortunately, Ellison believes that he and his Washington insider colleagues are entitled to their seats.  He couldn’t be more wrong.

Meanwhile, Ellison has also had worries about his own party. At a meeting of the American Muslim Democratic Caucus in Charlotte, he shared his thoughts on a part of the Democratic platform that references Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel.

That's an unfortunate circumstance. This is a serious conflict which requires real focus and the world needs a solution to it. It should not be reduced to whose platform is more pro-Israel. It's a game that we're playing. But we're playing a game with people's lives.