Politico: "Headliner Kerry Joins J Street No Show List." What do you guys make of this?

J Street, DC’s new left-leaning Israel advocacy group, had hoped to make a big splash with an event in DC next week but the group has been rocked by a wave of defections -- which now includes headliner John Kerry, POLITICO's Meredith Shiner reports.

Some of the defections appear to be ideological – the Weekly Standard and pro-Israel groups like AIPAC have attacked J Street as soft on terrorism. But some of the embarrassment seems to have stemmed from scheduling conflicts.

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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry’s name is still is listed on J Street’s web site as one of four keynote speakers at the group’s gala, albeit with an asterisk signifying he was invited but not confirmed.

But he turned down the invitation “weeks ago” due to a prior commitment, according to Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith.

Kerry is not disassociating himself from J Street and shares the group's "commitment to a lasting solution in the Middle East and looks forward to continuing a strong relationship with them moving forward,” according to his office.

Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said that his boss declined for ideological reasons. “We asked to be removed several weeks ago after we determined that there was a significant difference of opinion between the Senator and the group about Israel defending itself against the missile firings out of Gaza,” Fallon said.

I'm not questioning Franken's motivation here -- he seems genuinely moved by the issue. But it's also another signal that Franken, a caustic critic of the Iraq War, intends to follow Hillary Clinton's workhorse-not-showhorse strategy in the Senate: In Clinton's case, she focused on wounder warrior legislation and up-armoring Humvees.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is still trying to arrange a time to speak to the J Street Conference next week, contrary to this report in Politico.

Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith told JTA that while Kerry's office informed the left-wing pro-Israel group weeks ago he couldn't speak at the "keynote" slot J Street had requested on Tuesday, "we're just working with scheduling to get another opportunity to address the conference."

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"In light of Senator Kerry's schedule, we are still trying to find a way to make it possible for him to appear at and speak to our supporters during the conference or gala," she said.

Smith added that Kerry remains a member of the conference's host committee and continues to support the group.