Who’s afraid of Obama fans?
By Lisa Hostein on Apr 10, 2008 in Barack Obama, Pennsylvania, Presidential Race |
By several accounts, the Obama folks are keeping a tight rein on who is allowed to speak for the campaign (though we certainly can’t complain about our access to the candidate himself). But they may be shooting themselves in the foot as a result. Case in point: I visited Obama’s campaign office in the Philadelphia suburb of Wynnewood over the weekend. Turns out the office is being run by one Chaim Safran. Hy, as he is known, would make the perfect poster boy for Obama in the Jewish community. He’s young, Jewishly committed – Jewish pre-school, day school and a joint degree from JTS and Columbia – and couldn’t be more passionate about Obama.
But we had to go through some hoops to get the green light to talk. Turns out the 23-year-old Detroit-area native has been closely following Obama since before he even stepped into the political spotlight. Soon after Obama entered the race, Hy cut short his post-graduate explorations in Israel to volunteer for the campaign. “I went from Israel to Iowa; I was in Cedar Rapids before I knew it,” he says.
Now he’s a paid staffer, traveling from state to state to set up local primary operations. Obama represents a “once in a generation, once in a lifetime opportunity for the country politically,” Hy says. “I’m not a single-issue voter,” he adds, “but I do have a litmus test when it comes to Israel” and Obama “passes with flying colors.”
He likes not only the candidate’s positions — he cites Obama’s leadership in the Senate to condemn the Hezbollah rocket attacks during the 2006 War in Lebanon – but his willingness to listen. “I’m a committed Jew and a Zionist,” he stresses. “I am very comfortable with Barack’s religious beliefs, I’m thrilled with his attitude toward Jewish issues and I’m comfortable with his positions on Israel.”
Even non-paid backers are reluctant to talk without the proper permission. Rick Horowitz, another committed guy - both Jewishly and to Obama - was nice enough to give up an hour of his Sunday afternoon to meet me at that same Obama office, a former bank building. But apparently he hadn’t gone to the proper authorities and asked after the fact that it be off the record. Rick, the president of a private equity firm, is a member of Obama’s national finance committee, which must mean he’s done some serious fundraising for him. And he’s working in the Jewish community to get the pro-Obama message out. What could he possibly say that would reflect badly? Here were his talking points: He was so inspired by Obama’s books that he decided he was going to be involved in the campaign; it’s the first time in his adult life that he’s “had this kind of excitement and emotion about a candidate” and he is so committed that he took his 14-year-old son to New Hampshire to canvass before that pivotal primary.
Who else are the Obama powers hiding while there are still so many serious questions floating out there among Jews about the man who would be president?
As long as Obama defends his friendship with Wright and would agree to speak to Iran’s President, then we Jews who vote Obama deserve what they will get if he becomes our next President…He will not get my VOTE!!
aaron levy | Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
I am new here and do not have a website. I tried to post a comment and it was rejected. That is fine but I would like to know if I had one could I post. I find some things here that have me very upset and I do not understand some things which have been written on here. I can get a website if I needed one. I pay for one which I have just never had to have.
Sherlene
Sherlene | Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
Obama is by far the best candidate for Jews and Israel because he will pursue diplomacy around the world to improve America’s standing, promote peace, and consequently, improve Israel’s standing.
Aaron, has the current administration’s unwillingness to talk to Iran helped or hurt the cause of peace in Iraq & Israel? Is the middle east better or worse off than it was 7 years ago? Clearly, the “talk tough and stonewall opposition” approach is only benefitting the Ahmadinejads of the world who paint a belligerent, undiplomatic American leadership as great satans. If we engage with them, we prove our good character, and Ahmadinejad’s empty rhetoric will be proven as such.
And Aaron, you won’t support Obama because of Jeremiah Wright? Really? You never disagreed with anything your Rabbi said, but went back to shul anyway? You never disagreed with things your friends say but maintain your relationship with them? How about Hillary Clinton? Her Methodist Church is aggressively pursuing a campaign of divestment from Israel. And John McCain claims Rod Parsley as a “spiritual advisor” — Parsely calls repeatedly for the destruction of Islam in his book, “Silent No More.” That’s to say nothing of McCain’s flip-flop of a speech at Liberty University after famously calling its founder, Jerry Fallwell, an “agent of intolerance.”
So if you have a problem with Jeremiah Wright, how do you feel about Clinton and McCain’s religious choices? I think a little consistency is fair here.
Shlomo | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I’m tired of all the non-necessary and negative stuff being spewed during this phase of the campaign. That’s why my friends and I created a positive message video in an attempt to compensate.
There are other ways to fight back, enjoy.
Peace,
Dr Mambo
Dr Mambo | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Does unconditionally mean he will agree to their terms? No, he said talk to them, and it doesn’t hurt to talk. Nation leaders don’t like being ignored, because when powerful nations like ours ignore them they flex their muscles to get noticed (sounds familiar?). Take Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president. His people hate him, THEY HATE HIM, yet we give him power over THEM and US by letting him rant on about what he’s going to do, then we ponder about going to war with Iran without having one face-to-face meeting with the man. We’ve always been bigger then that… until now.
Obama is a Bible-trained Christian, who knows and respects the fact that Jews are God first chosen. Christians understand this so wholeheartedly that it may be why he failed to be more definitive in his statement. Unlike Jews who care nothing about Christian history, we Christians carry Jewish Biblical history in our hearts, and it is reinforced on a regular bases through Bible studies and church sermons. And, as God instructed, Christian Gentiles pray for Israel, we always pray for Israel. We also financially, and prayfully, support depressed Jews in Russia. Christians also support the “Back to Jerusalem” movement where, as I write this message, elderly Jews are being transported from communist nations to Israel, seeing the prosperity of their people for the first time in their lives, all because of financial support from Christian people. There is no way Obama would’ve missed out on pleasing God with his financial support and prayers for those Jews. Jewish people have nothing to fear from Obama.
S. A. Hayes | May 22, 2008 | Reply