In politics, the past is considered fair game - and one aspiring representative’s past is now coming back to haunt him.
The Minnesota Daily reports that when Democratic Congressional candidate Keith Ellison was a law student at University of Minnesota, he wrote some pieces for the Daily that Republican opponent Alan Fine is now presenting as evidence of Ellison’s anti-Semitism.

“The single most distinguishing characteristic of the Nation of Islam, from a black perspective, is the Nation’s message of economic self-determination,” Ellison wrote in a 1989 Daily column as Keith E. Hakim.
That piece ran with an editor’s note, which said in part, “I see Hakim’s piece as a genuine threat to the long-term safety and well-being of the Jewish people.”[…]
Republicans have associated Ellison with the Nation of Islam, the leader of which, Louis Farrakhan, has made anti-Semitic remarks. Ellison had raised money for the group’s Million Man March.
Ellison attributes this criticism to campaign smear tactics, he said.
In a statement issued Thursday, Ira Forman, the National Jewish Democratic Council’s executive director, called on Fine to apologize for his “hate-filled attacks” on Ellison.
“Like many of us, Keith Ellison is not perfect, but he is a good man,” Forman said. “Keith has recognized his past mistakes and renounced his brief association with the Nation of Islam and has condemned the anti-Semitic statements and beliefs of (Nation of Islam leader) Louis Farrakhan.”