Oh now, relax — you know how those Republicans and their shadowy Jewish benefactors are. Note to Michael McMahon: When making a charge like this in polite company, the proper terminology these days is “Zionist money.” Wink.

Want a little extra nuance here in case there’s not enough already? The district they’re fighting over is in … New York City.

[I]n an effort to show that Grimm lacks support among voters in the district, which covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, the McMahon campaign compiled a list of Jewish donors to Grimm and provided it to The Politicker.

The file, labeled “Grimm Jewish Money Q2,” for the second quarter fundraising period, shows a list of over 80 names, a half-dozen of which in fact do hail from Staten Island, and a handful of others that list Brooklyn as home.

“Where is Grimm’s money coming from,” said Jennifer Nelson, McMahon’s campaign spokeman. “There is a lot of Jewish money, a lot of money from people in Florida and Manhattan, retirees.”

As a point of comparison, the campaign also provided in-district and out-of-district fundraising totals from McMahon and Grimm’s G.O.P primary opponent, Michael Allegretti. However, they did not provide an out-of-district campaign filing from Grimm, but only a file of Jewish donors to him.

When I first glanced at the article, I thought maybe they were trying to make the point, however awkwardly, that Grimm is failing to win over local Jewish voters based on the fact that comparatively few have donated to him. Nope: No way to square that with the boldfaced part from Nelson. She went on to defend the list by noting that the campaign’s finance director, who put it together, is also Jewish, but to no avail: According to Politico, she’s been fired. A statement from the man in charge:

“These comments were entirely inappropriate and there is no place for this kind of behavior. I was outraged by these unfortunate remarks which were unauthorized and are in no way indicative of my beliefs or of my campaign,” said Congressman Michael E. McMahon. “I am proud to represent an incredibly diverse community and to enjoy an incredibly diverse base of support. Any comments that could serve to divide our community along religious or ethnic lines have no place in our community or my campaign. I sincerely apologize for her comments, and as she has since been terminated from our campaign, there will be no such incidents in the future.”

Thus ends another valuable lesson in Tolerance. Incidentally, if Grimm’s name sounds familiar to you, it’s because Palin endorsed him on Facebook just a few days ago. Exit question for Team McMahon: Sarah Palin, Jewish Zionist puppet?