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Political Points: Obama’s ecumenism, Romney-Paul alliance, why vote Israel?

By Daniel Treiman · February 2, 2012

OBAMA’S MULTIFAITH PITCH: In his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama cites Jesus, Judaism and Islam in making the case that the rich should pay more in taxes.

ROMNEY-PAUL ALLIANCE: While they may have big policy differences, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are friendly with one another, and have worked together to establish a political relationship that is mutually beneficial, The Washington Post reports.

FLORIDA’S ECLECTIC JEWS: Haaretz’s Natasha Mozgovaya met a diverse cast of Jewish characters while covering the Florida GOP primary.

In Virginia, JCRC lobbies against bill targeting ‘foreign law’

By Zach Silberman · February 2, 2012

A bill making its way through Virginia’s state legislature would place restrictions on the consideration of foreign laws – and likely religious laws, as well -- in the state’s courts. And it is drawing opposition from the Jewish community.

Stopping HB 825 was the top priority item for Jewish advocates who were in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday lobbying legislators for Jewish Social Advocacy Day, sponsored by an array of local Jewish communal groups.

While the bill’s text does not mention religion, critics -- and some supporters -- of the legislation view it as taking aim at Shariah, or Islamic religious law.

Among Jews there is fear that the legislation, which was moved forward on Monday by a Virginia House subcommittee, could potentially cause problems that would impact the Jewish community on issues related to religious arbitration.

Joseph Lieberman talks turkey

By Daniel Treiman · February 2, 2012

Zach Silberman has a nice story for The Washington Jewish Week on the new kosher food options in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria. He quotes a couple Jewish lawmakers who are kvelling, including Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Here’s what the independent from Connecticut had to say about the offerings (via a spokesman):

It was excellent, and the bread was especially good. It had that certain aura of holiness. I certainly appreciate these new options, and I plan to try the turkey next week.
 

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Florida’s Jewish GOP primary vote, and what it means

By Daniel Treiman · February 1, 2012

Let's answer a question with a question: What does the Florida GOP primary tell us about how the state's Jews will vote in the general election? Who knows?

Some folks are highlighting exit polling from the Florida GOP primary that found only 1 percent of those who showed up to vote identified themselves as Jewish (so few that the folks behind the poll offer no information about how they divided up their vote).

The New York Times’ political number-cruncher Nate Silver wrote:

…there is no sign tonight of Jewish voters switching their registration over to the Republican side in Florida. According to early exit polls, just 1 percent of voters in tonight's Republican primary identified as Jewish. That's down from 3 percent in the Florida Republican primary in 2008, which also might mean that Jewish Republican voters in the state are not terribly enthusiastic about this group of candidates. Jewish turnout in general elections in Florida is normally about 4 percent.

The National Jewish Democratic Council linked to Silver’s take on the 1 percent stat, as well as other similar analyses in a statement headlined “Exit Polling Shows No Evidence of Jewish Voters Switching to GOP ID in FL.”

Well, it’s certainly true that the exit polls don’t offer any evidence of a Jewish registration shift to the GOP. But I do wonder whether we can really know from the exit polling how much of a real decline there was in the Jewish percentage of Republican primary voters. After all, like other types of polling, exit polling also has a margin of error. (Of course, I'm no statistician, so my tentative thoughts on this issue should be taken with a big grain of kosher salt.)

In Florida, Allen West abandons district, and Jewish GOPer Adam Hasner’s jumping in

By Daniel Treiman · February 1, 2012

Freshman Republican Rep. Allen West, and, was one of the top 2012 election targets of Democrats, who are hoping to take back his South Florida district and take out an outspoken Tea Party favorite.

But it turns out West is a moving target.

West announced yesterday that he is abandoning Florida’s 22nd district to run in another, more Republican district. A prominent Jewish Republican will reportedly try to take West’s place in the district.

Adam Hasner, a former majority leader of Florida’s House of Representatives, was running for the Republican nomination for Senate, but he had been trailing badly in the polls ever since Rep. Connie Mack IV jumped in the GOP race. Now reports say he will be running in the 22nd.

Even with the high-profile and polarizing West out of the picture, the race to win Florida’s 22nd could be a hard fought.

Two Democrats had been vying to replace West: Lois Frankel, the Jewish former mayor of West Palm Beach, and construction company exec Patrick Murphy (who until last year was a registered Republican), both of whom have been raising real money.

Petraeus to Senate: Israelis see Iran as ‘an existential threat’

By Zach Silberman · January 31, 2012

The former lead commander for U.S. Central Command underscored the importance of Israel's perception of Iran as an existential threat during a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday.

David Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told senators of the Select Committee on Intelligence that Israel sees Iran “as an existential threat to their country.”

“I think it's very important to note, as the article did in the New York Times, the growing concerns that Israel has…about the continued activities by Iran along a path that could, if the decision is made…to pursue the construction of a nuclear device,” Petraeus said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Petraeus was referring to a piece in The New York Times Magazine by Israeli reporter Ronen Bergman about Israeli preparations for a possible attack to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

Political Points: Kvetching about Wyden, Wasserman Schultz shields, Obama’s big givers

By Daniel Treiman · January 31, 2012

NOT ADELSONS’ CAUCUS?: A spokesman for Sheldon and Miriam Adelson -- Newt Gingrich’s spendthrift supporters -- denies that the couple is responsible for a special Nevada Republican caucus that is designed to accommodate those who observe Saturday as the Sabbath.

WHAT GINGRICH HEARD IN PEWS: The National Jewish Democratic Council hits Newt Gingrich for sitting in the pews of a Florida Baptist church as a speaker at an evangelical pastors’ conference called for proselytizing Jews.

KVETCHING ABOUT WYDEN: Some Democrats are steamed at Sen. Ron Wyden for working with their bête noir, Rep. Paul Ryan, on a proposed Medicare overhaul.

Romney’s unkosher act, or Gingrich’s unkosher attack?

By Daniel Treiman · January 31, 2012

In an apparent effort to appeal to Florida Jews (exactly how many of whom vote in Republican primaries, who knows?), Newt Gingrich’s campaign is using robocalls to hit rival Mitt Romney over his stance on kosher food when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Some, however, don't think it's a very kosher line of attack.

Gingrich previously hit Romney on the issue, saying that he “eliminated serving kosher food for elderly Jewish residents” under Medicaid. Gingrich was following up on a New York Post story last week reporting that Romney had vetoed a bill that would have channeled funds to kosher food in nursing homes.

The robocalls, however, took the attack one step further, specifically accusing Romney of denying Holocaust survivors kosher food:

As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing homes. Holocaust survivors, who for the first time, were forced to eat non-kosher, because Romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat kosher. Where is Mitt Romney's compassion for our seniors? Tuesday you can end Mitt Romney's hypocrisy on religious freedom, with a vote for Newt Gingrich. Paid for by Newt 2012.

This prompted Commentary’s Seth Mandel to warn that “politicizing the Holocaust, especially when it’s this transparent and forced, is not traditionally the way to Jewish voters’ hearts.”

When Gingrich was asked about the robocalls, he said that he didn’t know about the calls, but added: "You might check and see whether the accusation is true."

Well, Commentary’s Alana Goodman looked into Gingrich’s earlier assertion that Romney had “eliminated serving kosher food for elderly Jewish residents,” and she concluded that the attack was not true:

No Red Phone for Dennis Ross

By Ron Kampeas · January 31, 2012

Haaretz is reporting that Dennis Ross is still advising the White House, in an unofficial capacity.

Barak Ravid, the paper's diplomatic reporter, also says: "Apparently, a short while after Ross left his position in the Obama administration, the White House made an unusual request to install a secure phone line in Ross' office at the Washington Institute."

Ross returned to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy after he left his post as the top White House official advising the president on the Middle East..

The "red phone," Ravid reports, citing two sources -- a U.S. official and an Israeli academic --  "sits in Dennis Ross’ office in his research institute, through which Ross receives updates regarding classified government information connected to his profession. There aren’t many independent researchers that receive such privileges."

An administration official confirms to me Ravid's original reporting that Ross is indeed continuing to consult with the Obama administration -- but quashes the bit about the "red phone." Here's the statement in full:

Ambassador Ross has extensive experience in the Middle East and is serving as an unpaid advisor on Middle East issues.  This is not uncommon.  The State Department has relied on senior experts in the past. There’s no “secure phone” at WINEP.

 

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Koshergate! Newt hits Mitt on kashrut

By Ron Kampeas · January 30, 2012

As Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney cut  vetoed funding for a program that provided kosher meals for the Jewish elderly, as part of overall cuts aimed at rolling back the state's deficit.

The legislature restored the program overrode the veto.

I'm not sure how this became an issue in the 2012 election, but it did. In Florida. It was first reported by the New York Post, and now Newt Gingrich is casting it as a matter of conscience.

Here's CNN, BuzzFeed (with the most egregiously unrelated photo ever) and Politico.

UPDATE: As David Heller notes below, the program had already been cut; Romney vetoed a program that would have replaced the cuts. Alana Goodman digs up the goods. So does our own Zach Silberman.

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