Biden & Schumer headed to Florida http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/biden-schumer-headed-to-florida/ In an interview with JTA last week, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that Joe Biden would be a big asset with Jewish folks in Florida, predicting he would “come down and move around the bagel places and the condos.” Well… it didn’t take long. Biden heads to Florida on Tuesday – we don’t see any bagel joints on the itinerary, but he’s scheduled to work the Clubhouse Party Room at the Century Village in Deerfield Beach. Later in the day, he’ll be hosting another town hall, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. And for a follow-up ... the Obama campaign will be sending down perhaps the Jewiest Jewish member of Congress: Next Sunday, September 7, U.S. Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer of New York will visit South Florida to speak with voters about Barack Obama’s vision for bringing the change we need to America. Schumer will visit the Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura, Temple Solel in Hollywood and Temple Beth Shalom in Century Village in Boca Raton to discuss Senator Obama’s long-standing support for Israel and other issues of interest to the Jewish community in this election. Schumer’s scheduled visit underscores a major development: In the primary most Jewish members of Congress were backing Hillary Clinton – this time around they’ll be stumping for Obama. And that’s a good thing for the Democratic candidate, especially in parts of Florida. How desperate is Barack Obama’s situation with elderly Jews down in the condos? Depends who you ask. Wasserman Schultz and one of South Florida’s other Jewish congressman, Robert Wexler, sounded fairly optimistic at last week’s Democratic convention. But two state lawmakers with their finger on the pulse of Jewish seniors in South Florida, Nan Rich and Steve Geller, said the situation is bad: Florida state Sen. Nan Rich said Obama surrogates have been “shocked” by the hostility towards their candidate they have encountered at condominiums in her area. Steve Geller, who serves as the Democratic minority leader in the Florida state Senate and represents parts of Broward County, said he was nearly chased out of the “condos” – shorthand for retirement communities – when he said he backed Obama. “I’ve noticed almost a mob mentality,” Geller said. “I can change people’s minds in a group of five or 10. When there’s 300 people in the room, they feed off each other and don’t want really to listen to us.” Other members of Florida’s convention delegation also expressed concern. en-us aeden@jta.org Copyright 2008 2008-09-02T;03:01:36-05:00 Comment by chklaver@yahoo.com I also don’t understand how Obama will be able to convince the Jewish voters that he really does stand for them after his visit to Palestine.  I find it reprehensible that Obama would agree to terms of being escorted by Al Qwasa, a known terrorist organization during his visit with Palestinian leadership this summer.  This occurred while he was trying to convince Jews that he does stand with Israel after his many confusing statements about his stance on Israel.  Bill Levinson, you sum it up well with your remark “surround himself with professional bigots of every stripe one day, and court the Jewish (or general Caucasian) vote the next.” How is he going to be able to explain this one? I also don’t understand how Obama will be able to convince the Jewish voters that he really does stand for them after his visit to Palestine.  I find it reprehensible that Obama would agree to terms of being escorted by Al Qwasa, a known terrorist organization during his visit with Palestinian leadership this summer.  This occurred while he was trying to convince Jews that he does stand with Israel after his many confusing statements about his stance on Israel. 

Bill Levinson, you sum it up well with your remark “surround himself with professional bigots of every stripe one day, and court the Jewish (or general Caucasian) vote the next.”

How is he going to be able to explain this one?

]]> 2009-11-06T;20:43:00-05:00 Comment by kitchener@omdurman.org “Steve Geller, who serves as the Democratic minority leader in the Florida state Senate and represents parts of Broward County, said he was nearly chased out of the “condos” — shorthand for retirement communities — when he said he backed Obama.” This is hardly surprising, because of Obama’s open association with anti-Semites (Al Sharpton) and Israel-haters (Jeremiah Wright) of the worst kind. The Jews reacted the way Black people would react to someone who endorsed the Ku Klux Klan the way Obama endorsed Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. I don’t understand how Obama can surround himself with professional bigots of every stripe one day, and court the Jewish (or general Caucasian) vote the next. Decent Black people ought to repudiate him too, the way decent white people repudiate the KKK and anyone who supports it. “Steve Geller, who serves as the Democratic minority leader in the Florida state Senate and represents parts of Broward County, said he was nearly chased out of the “condos” — shorthand for retirement communities — when he said he backed Obama.”

This is hardly surprising, because of Obama’s open association with anti-Semites (Al Sharpton) and Israel-haters (Jeremiah Wright) of the worst kind. The Jews reacted the way Black people would react to someone who endorsed the Ku Klux Klan the way Obama endorsed Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.

I don’t understand how Obama can surround himself with professional bigots of every stripe one day, and court the Jewish (or general Caucasian) vote the next. Decent Black people ought to repudiate him too, the way decent white people repudiate the KKK and anyone who supports it.

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