High Cheekbones? Oy Vey!

A couple weeks later and the Elizabeth Warren "Cherokeegate" mess has not gone away.  (Note--what's with adding "-gate" after every Watergate-esque scandal?  If the President took bribes from a gate construction firm, would we have to refer to that as "Gate-gate"?  I almost wish he would take such a bribe just so we can use that term).  I blogged previously about how revelations that Masshole Senate Candidate Warren is taking criticism for claiming Cherokee ancestry, despite a very distant possible relation to the tribe and whether "diversity points" should really be used for such tenuous claims (as opposed to someone raised on a reservation or who has a close connection to the culture at issue). 

But mainly, the rule is when you're in a hole, quit digging.  Every week spent trying to argue that it's just fine for Harvard to claim credit for hiring nonwhites by using a woman slightly whiter than the cast of "Friends" using D.C. Bikeshares program on their way to Whole Foods is a week not spent reminding the residents of a dark blue state that they have a Republican representing them in the Senate. 

(To be sure, I'd like to see that particular Republican, Scott Brown, re-elected, as well as Montana Democrat Jon Tester, if only so that there are some Senators left who actually have to consider the opinions of constituents from the opposite party.  We dont' need more Jim DeMints and Barbara Boxers, in my view)

The right response for Warren would have been something along the lines of "I checked the box honestly because of my ancestral background, how my employer chose to use that is their policy.  Now let's talk entitlement spending...."

The wrong response?  This.  Namely, doubling down by claiming that a grandfather had "high cheekbones" as "Indians often do" and that poof, this should end the criticism.  (I shudder to think what she would have said if she were claiming Jewish or Italian ancestry)  Yep, that should kill the story!

My best guess out of all this is that Massachusetts has been dominated by the Democrats for so long that they forgot how to fight a spirited campaign.  How else can you explain so much amateurism?