As a Jew who has strongly and enthusiastically supported Barack Obama since he first announced his candidacy, the notion that he has a problem with Jewish voters drives me batshit crazy. There's no substantive reason for this and I believe the mainstream media has vastly overstated the question.

But any Jews who still have issues with him, for whatever reason, should know this about the woman John McCain wants to put a heartbeat away from the presidency, courtesy of today's New York Times:

When Sarah Palin first ran for mayor of Wasilla, she defeated a three-term incumbent named John Stein.

Stein isn't Jewish -- he was raised a Lutheran -- but that didn't stop Palin from Jew-baiting. According to the Times:

“Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, ‘Whoa,’ ” said Mr. Stein, who lost the election. “But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I’m not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: ‘We will have our first Christian mayor.’ ”

“I thought: ‘Holy cow, what’s happening here? Does that mean she thinks I’m Jewish or Islamic?’ ” recalled Mr. Stein . . .

(Emphasis added.)

Don't let appearances deceive. Besides being woefully unprepared for the job, this woman is a dangerous, intolerant extremist.