The Pure Line

Paulie Abeles has decided that she should dedicate her time and energy to seeking to exclude Sally Hemings's descendants from official gatherings of descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Sounds a bit odd and slightly racist. She's even been known to resort to dirty tricks in her question to keep the Jefferson clan all-white. So far, just a strange tale, but Ben Smith reports that she's also a McCain organizer:

A key organizer of John McCain's meeting Saturday with former supporters of Hillary Clinton is best known for her role in another bitter American fight: The effort by some white descendants of Thomas Jefferson to keep his possible African-American descendants out of family gatherings.

Paula Abeles emailed Politico yesterday to complain that her group had gotten short shrift in a blog item, writing, "I initiated the teleconference with McCain on Saturday and was solely responsible for the guest list." Another Clinton backer at the event, Will Bower, confirmed that she was "integral" to assembling the group.

This, of course, is the faction of Clinton supporters -- people who don't like black people -- where McCain has a very good shot at picking up new voters. The people who backed Clinton on feminist grounds or because they thought she had the savvy to deliver big time progressive legislation probably won't be following in Abeles' footsteps.