Eric Fingerhut has an article up about two prayers recited at Barack Obama’s big night last week in Denver at the Democratic convention: one by Rabbi David Saperstein, the Reform movement’s man in D.C., and another by Pastor John Hunter of Florida:

Barack Obama’s big night began with a prayer from a rabbi and ended with one concluding “in Jesus’ name.” Well, sort of.

A few minutes after the Democratic nominee made his acceptance speech Aug. 28 at Denver’s Invesco Field, an evangelical Christian pastor stepped to the microphone and delivered an ecumenical benediction — until he reached the very end.

“I want to interrupt this prayer for a closing instruction,” said Joel Hunter of Northwood Church in Longwood, Fla., adding that he wanted it to be a “participatory prayer.” So Hunter asked everyone to “close this prayer in the way your faith tradition” would “usually end prayers” – he concluded with the words “in Jesus’ name.”

Such an ending by itself might be expected to draw some Jewish objections. But at least one rabbi, Jack Moline, at the convention argued that the novel conclusion was a reasonable compromise to the dilemma of how to allow evangelical Christians to stay true to their traditions in public settings while not turning off those of other faiths.

In fact, said Moline, a Conservative rabbi from Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Va., it was his idea.

Check out the full story for Saperstein’s reaction and and the skinny on his speech.

Here are the videos:

UPDATE: Tuesday night it was the GOP’s turn to have a rabbi deliver one of the prayers.

Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-Md.) appearances before Jewish audiences in South Florida last week were the first of many he’ll be making this fall on behalf of Barack Obama.

In an interview last week, Cardin said he went to the presumptive Democratic nominee a few weeks ago and “offered my help” in persuading Jewish voters — and Obama took him up on the offer. Cardin’s told his staff that other than his business in the Senate, campaigning for Obama is his top priority. He expects to spend a lot of days in Florida and Pennsylvania, as well as some time in Northern Virginia.

Cardin said the Jewish voters he spoke to in Port St. Lucie and Ft. Lauderdale have “a tendency to be supportive” but have heard “a lot of misinformation.”

“It’s important to get the facts out,” he said, noting that some voters still don’t know enough about Obama’s positions, while others in Florida were “still upset” about the loss of HIllary Clinton.

Jimmy Carter’s speech at the Democratic National Convention will be on videotape from New Orleans, but he will be present in the convention hall in Denver on Monday night.

Obama convention spokesperson Jenny Backus called to clarify her e-mail yesterday and said the controversial former president will “be recognized” before his speech and may even introduce it. But the speech itself will have been previously recorded and originate from New Orleans, as a part of the program dedicated to remembering the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Carter will discuss, said Backus, “Americans coming together to help their neighbors and friends, fitting our theme of one nation. He will discuss programs that we can do together to make America stronger” and not talk about foreign policy.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has called for his removal from the convention schedule because of “troubling anti-Israel bias” and on Thursday, the National Council on Young Israel also urged the cancellation of his speech, calling it “an affront to the State of Israel, and to all American Zionists, whether they are Christians or Jews.”

Carter also spoke at the 2004 convention, but that was before the publication of his controversial book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”

The National Jewish Democratic Council is calling Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) “an outstanding advocate for Cleveland and issues important to the Jewish community” who “will be deeply missed.”

Tubbs Jones, whose district in eastern Cleveland and the city’s suburbs was heavily Jewish, died Wednesday of a brain aneurysm at the age of 58. She was the first African American woman to represent Ohio in Congress.

• MSNBC’s First Read reports that Dan Shapiro, Obama’s new senior foreign policy adviser and Jewish outreach coordinator, lobbied for the American Petroleum Institute — but the campaign responds that he de-registered as a lobbyist before joining the campaign.
• Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times notes two instances yesterday of Republicans “making plays to erode Obama’s Jewish support” — and the Obama campaign’s pushback.
• Brett Joshpe of TownHall.com argues, not particularly persuasively, that a VP pick of Eric Cantor could transform “traditional Jewish voting patterns.”
• Cantor continues to be a top McCain surrogate, joining Mitt Romney in Denver to try to distract attention from the Dem convention, reports Media General.
• The New Jersey Jewish News provides some details on what went on at that $1.3 million fundraiser the pro-Israel group NORPAC sponsored for McCain last week in Teaneck — as well as a second one Cindy McCain spoke at in the home of a Jewish philanthropist.
• Time’s Joel Stein suggests Obama’s strategy in Florida should be based on the principle that “a Jewish grandchild is never wrong.”
• A Jewish Republican blogger provides highlights from a debate between Obama and McCain surrogates at a Los Angeles synagogue.
• And the Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Los Angeles want the two presidential candidates to join Mike Huckabee in “denouncing the folly of [the] Israeli-Palestinian ‘two-state solution.’ ”

Jimmy Carter will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention, but he won’t be talking about Israel. The former president will be speaking “via a special video tape message from New Orleans,” said Obama convention spokesperson Jenny Backus via e-mail. He will talk “about Americans coming together to help their neighbors and friends, fitting our theme of one nation” and “discuss programs that we can do together to make America stronger.” Backus added that Carter “is not discussing foreign relations.” Backus said Carter will be in Denver and be recognized before the video is played.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has called for his removal from the scheduled because of “troubling anti-Israel bias.” Carter also spoke at the 2004 convention, but that was before the publication of his controversial book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”

Sure, Joe Lieberman was very popular among Jewish voters in 2000, but would his inclusion on the Republican presidential ticket this year inspire significant numbers of them to jump to the GOP? Jewish McCain supporters say yes, but a recent poll indicates the Connecticut senator might not be much of a draw anymore among his non-Republican co-religionists.

Lieberman had just a 37 percent overall favorability rating in a survey of 800 self-identified American Jews released last month by the dovish J Street organization, with 48 percent expressing disapproval of the now independent senator. And Jim Gerstein — principal of Gerstein Agne Strategic Communiciations, which conducted the poll — noted that a good percentage of that favoribility rating comes from Jewish GOPers, who registered 65 percent approval for Lieberman, compared to just 25 percent among Democrats and 45 percent for independents. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Furthermore, the stats show that older Jews who were enamored at the first Jewish vice presidential candidate in places like Florida aren’t any more favorably disposed to Lieberman — he has the same 37 percent approval rating among Jews over 64 that he receives from the overall population, and a higher disapproval rate of 53 percent. In addition, Orthodox Jews — the most likely denomination of the Jewish community to be Republicans — has a huge 76 percent approval rating for Lieberman, but Reform Jews only give him a 34 percent positive rating.

“The bottom line is Lieberman doesn’t help McCain” among Jews, said Gerstein, because many Jews are upset at Lieberman’s departure from the Democratic Party and strident support for the Iraq war.

National Jewish Democratic Council executive director Ira Forman agrees. “First of all, I’d be very surprised if Lieberman was selected,” said Forman. But if he was, he doubts he has much extra appeal, noting that the Democratic vote for president only rose 1 percent from 1996 to 2000. If Lieberman truly made a difference to Jews, “you would think you’d have seen some difference” with him on the ticket.

But Jewish Republicans say they would be very comfortable with the Connecticut senator as McCain’s running mate, and should help their efforts to bring more Jews over to the GOP side. “I certainly hope he would,” said Fred Zeidman, a Republican Jewish Coalition board member from Houston. “I’d like to believe the Jewish community would embrace him.” Zeidman said he had been on the road campaigning for Jewish votes with Lieberman in Michigan, and noted 300 people had turned out to hear him speak at a Holocaust museum in Detroit.

McCain supporter Gary Erlbaum of Philadelphia, who has financially backed candidates of both parties over the years, said he thinks Lieberman would still be a draw for Jewish voters. “Joe has made friends and lost friends,” he said. “He would be a great asset” in attracting independents and Jews. But Erlbaum doubts Lieberman will be McCain’s pick, since the number of voters it could attract would be outweighed by the alienation of so many conservatives.

The new foreign policy adviser and Jewish outreach coordinator to the Obama campaign says he’s “joining an operation that’s already well-organized.” Dan Shapiro said in a telephone interview that the campaign already has 15 Jewish leadership councils — with more still forming — “up and running” in major cities around the country, organizing house parties and other “direct voter contact” activities, as well as dedicated outreach staff in key states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Michigan.

Shapiro said he’ll continue to do the same kinds of things that he was doing in an volunteer advisory role for the last year now that he’s a full-time staffer, including speaking to voters and lining up other surrogates in the Jewish community.

A source in the Obama campaign who did not wish to be identified said a major theme of the Obama Jewish outreach effort this fall would be to show that the Democratic candidate is “in touch with” and cares about the same values that are important to the community — Jewish values such as caring for “the less fortunate among us, caring for our parents and grandparents, being good stewards of the earth.” The campaign also will continue to highlight Obama’s “rock-solid” backing of Israel, said the source.

A day after the Democrats announced that former President Jimmy Carter would be speaking next Monday at their convention, the Republican Jewish Coalition is demanding his removal from the schedule because of his “troubling anti-Israel bias.” Carter spoke at the convention four years ago, but that was before the 2006 release of his controversial book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”

A top Jewish leader, though, believes a Carter speech in Denver is unavoidable. Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman said in a phone interview that he wished Carter wasn’t speaking, but “I don’t think there’s an option not to provide a platform for a former president.” He hoped the “Democratic leadership would use the opportunity [of Carter's appearance] to distance themselves” from the former president’s “biased view of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Here’s the full RJC release: Read the rest

When Al Gore picked Joe Lieberman as his running mate eight years ago, many Republicans said he was their favorite Democrat. But that doesn’t mean they want him to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.

The Politico’s report that Lieberman, or fellow pro-choice politician Tom Ridge, was apparently being seriously considered as John McCain’s vice presidential pick was not welcomed by conservatives yesterday. “You will not have a unanimous vote at the convention, that much I can tell you,” said one unnamed Republican.

And there’s more on the McCain-Lieberman front…

• The Washington Times reports that state GOP officials are already plotting how to reject a Lieberman pick.
• Rush Limbaugh offers an emphatic “NO” to the idea.
• The National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez feels similarly.
• Jim Geraghty of the same publication also agrees, adding that Lieberman won’t win Connecticut for McCain.
• Jewish conservative John Podhoretz makes the case in Commentary magazine for Lieberman as McCain’s pick — foreign policy strength and both could pledge to fight the “corrupt political culture.” But he says Lieberman would have to pledge not to seek the presidency in order to mollify political conservatives.
• Byron York of National Review writes that McCain would like to pick a “friend” like Lieberman and the campaign believes it would give him back his “maverick” image — but he’s still struggling with the decision.
• And Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard has a similar take, writing that if McCain was making the decision without regard to policy or politics, it would be Joe — but that in the end, he’ll pick Pawlenty.
• Liberal blogger Jane Hamsher of The Huffington Post believes McCain will choose Lieberman and announce it next Friday, because the media will love it and it will steal Obama’s thunder after his convention speech.
• Time magazine political guru Mark Halperin said a choice of any “pro-choice” VP would be a “disaster” for McCain.

Signs do point this morning to Lieberman being vetted, according to Politico. And he’s also now on the Republican convention speaking agenda, although no specifics on when. And the Connecticut senator is following in the footsteps of another rumored VP nominee, Joe Biden, by heading to Georgia this week.

As Barack Obama gets ready to roll out his running mate, Jewish political insiders and activists say they would welcome any of the three most talked about possibilities.

Some say Sen. Joseph Biden’s (D-Del.) extensive experience on foreign policy issues makes him a big favorite among pro-Israel activists, but others prefer Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as a solid, appealing choice. And while some Jewish Democrats admit they aren’t too familiar with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), they say reports of his good relations with the Virginia Jewish community reassure them.

“I have not heard a single name that has caused conternation” or is considered a problem, said Steve Rabinowitz, a Democratic political consultant who often works on Jewish issues.

Steve Grossman, a former president of AIPAC and chair of the Democratic Party, said that while there are a group of Jewish voters who are looking for an experienced foreign-policy hand, others just want someone who fits well with Obama and matches their “progressive” views on a variety of issues. Grossman, who backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries, believes Biden would be popular because he’s “as well known an individual as any elected official in America” with a lengthy “track record” of backing the U.S.-Israel relationship, but also noted that Bayh has “enormous credibility with the pro-Israel community” and Kaine gets high marks from his Jewish constituents. Grossman emphasized, though, that he doesn’t think that the VP selection will make much of a difference to Jewish voters because Obama will have proved his bona fides on foreign policy issues by Election Day.

Rebecca Geller, a co-founder of “Chai for Hillary” who is now backing Obama, said younger pro-Israel activists seem to prefer Bayh for his relative youth combined with his experience, although “there’s not really a consensus of one person,” just “a relief that all people vetted” would be satisfactory. Geller herself, a native of Richmond, Va., is a big fan of Kaine, who served as the mayor of that city before ascending to state politics. While studying abroad, she spent time with the then-mayor when he visited Jerusalem for a mayors’ conference.

And Marcel Groen, chair of the Democratic Party of Montgomery County, Pa., belives that “if you took a poll Hillary [Clinton] would be the overwhelmingly choice,” although that selection appears unlikely.

The only name that would universally disappoint Jewish activists would be Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, whose name has been bandied about but not been mentioned as a serious possibility. One said she would reconsider her vote, because of his record as a critic of Israel. Rabinowitz noted, though, that the Hagel choice would be unpopular with all Democrats, because they don’t want to vote for a Democratic president and possibly end up with a Republican if the vice president ends up taking over.

Dan Shapiro, who’s been advising Barack Obama on Middle East issues for most of the campaign, is now officially joining the campaign. The former Clinton administration National Security Council official will serve as senior policy adviser and Jewish outreach coordinator, according to a press release from the Obama campaign. Here’s the whole release: Read the rest

Is the Associated Press unconsciously channeling the feelings of many Democrats about Joe Lieberman? Check out the typo in the 10th paragraph of this AP story on vice presidential speculation, which includes an extra letter when describing the 2000 Democratic VP pick.

The Democrats won’t be the only party convention with a rabbi giving a benediction. According to the Deep South Jewish Voice, Rabbi Ira Flax, a retired military chaplain now living in Birmingham, has been asked to give the invocation during the Wednesday session of the Republican National Convention–traditionally the day the vice presidential nominee gives his or her speech. The paper reported a convention spokesperson would not confirm the schedule, saying it had not been finalized.

Democrats have announced that Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will deliver the invocation the night Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president. The party has also announced its first “Faith Caucus” with a number of religion-related discussions throughout their week in Denver, and rabbis including Northern Virginians Amy Schwartzman and Jack Moline, Steven Foster of Denver, Marc Schneier of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Steve Gutow from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Orthodox Union executive vice president Tzvi Hersh Weinreb — who will keynote Sunday’s kickoff “Interfaith Gathering.” Here’s the press release: Read the rest