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Dean: Obama is like Sharon

By Eric Fingerhut · September 24, 2008

Barack Obama’s been getting a lot of of comparisons to Jesus lately – both positive (those buttons saying Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor) and derogatory (the Republican nickname for him is Messiah). But Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean came up with a completely original comparison for Obama this morning that no one had likely ever thought about before: Ariel Sharon.

Dean said the Democratic presidential nominee and the former Israeli prime minister share similar leadership qualities.

“Much as the United States needs the strong leadership Barack Obama gives us, Ariel Sharon turned out to be a strong leader,” he said, as he recalled a trip he took to the Jewish state just after Israel had pulled out of Gaza.

“In Israel and America, strong leaders make peace,” said Dean. “Only leaders who have the confidence to do what’s right, to make concessions if necessary” and “only leaders with strong self-confidence can do the things that need to be done.”

Dean also criticzed the Republican Jewish Coalition’s anti-Obama literature, calling it “despicable stuff” and telling the crowd that “you are the folks that can counteract” such “hate-based propaganda.”

Much of Dean’s speech was devoted to making the argument that the proper home for Jewish voters is in the Democratic Party. He said the “core of the relationship” between Democrats and Jews goes beyond just support for Israel to shared “humanitarian values.”

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Biden will headline NJDC event

By Eric Fingerhut · September 11, 2008

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker at this month’s National Jewish Democratic Council conference in Washington.

The exact time of Biden’s appearance is not yet set, said an NJDC spokesperson, but the conference begins on the afternoon of Sept. 23 and continues all day Sept. 24. The speech will be the first time Biden has spoken in front of a meeting of a national Jewish organization since his selection last month as Barack Obama’s running mate.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean will also speak at the parley.

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The intermarriage party

By Ami Eden · September 4, 2008

You know you’ve been in this business (Jewish journalism) too long when ... the rest of the country is taking in Joe Biden’s tragic/inspiring story of losing his first wife and a baby daughter in a car crash, then managing to press ahead with his political career and raise his other children – but the only family detail you care about is that one of his sons married into a Jewish family.

And if you think that’s bad, here’s what flashed through my head next:

• Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton’s only child is seriously involved with a Jewish guy.


• One of Al Gore’s daughters is married to a Schiff


• One of Nancy Pelosi’s daughters is married to a Jewish guy.


• Harry Reid married a Jewish woman (they both eventually converted to Mormonism – read more here).


• Howard Dean is married to a Jewish woman – and lights the menorah.

For those keeping score, that’s the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, the top Democrat in the Senate, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, the most recent Democratic president and first lady, the most recent Democratic vice president, and the current vice presidential candidate. All we’re missing is the One, but to be fair the Obama children haven’t even reached Bat Mitzvah age – give ‘em time (until then, be happy with the news that Michelle Obama has a cousin who’s a rabbi).

Back to Biden… he played up his Jewish connection Tuesday, during a town hall in South Florida packed with Jewish seniors:

“Look, my son married – and matter of fact, her, uh – my son married into the Berger family,” he said, referring to his son Beau Biden’s marriage to the former Hallie Berger. “We’re going to be mishpokhe before this all is over, I promise you.”

In general, I’m not sure whether that’s the best crowd for boasting about the whole intermarriage thing (though I have a hunch that many in the audience would be more comfortable with a Biden marrying in than, say, an Obama). I’d be especially reticent during this campaign, given the Internet track record of the anti-Obama forces.

Forget the Muslim stuff, I can see the new conspiratorial e-mail: Stop the Democratic plot to destroy the Jews with intermarriage. Every time a Democrat wins, another Jewish family loses. And with those two precious Obama girls, this year it’s likely to cost us two good Jewish boys.

Of course, for Jewish paranoids – I’m sure there are only a few of them out there, but they all seem to have my e-mail address – it’s a tough choice: Do you prefer a party whose goyim want to marry us or convert us?

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