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Political Tidbits: Obama has Joe, shouldn’t McCain get one too?

By Ami Eden · August 26, 2008

William Kristol makes the case for the McCain-Lieberman ticket. And Joe makes the case for a vow of silence.

The New York Sun wonders if Barack Obama is taking the Empire State for granted.

A blind rabbi and a Chinese Jew running for Congress walk into a Democratic convention.

Madonna goes Hitler on McCain. ... and the ADL cries foul.

Bill Daley: “A big piece of why Biden is the obvious choice is because he is Catholic and is very good with Jewish voters. Obama’s got problems with the Catholic vote and Biden will calm the nerves of Jewish voters in Florida. He is a big supporter of Israel.”

And former Hillary Clinton spokeswoman Lisa Caputo: “Very pro-Israel, Joe Biden, which will help with Jewish voters.”

Republicans Abroad Israel use the Georgia crisis to compare Obama to Jimmy Carter.

Ha’aretz takes a look at the Obama campaign’s high-tech efforts to fight anti-Obama attacks.

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Political Tidbits: Kicking off convention, debating Biden

By Ami Eden · August 25, 2008

The Jerusalem Post reflects on Jewish Colorado and the wisdom of holding the Democratic convention in Denver.

The New York Sun says Jews at the convention are kvelling over the Biden pick. Here’s why they should be, according to the National Jewish Democratic Council.

And the Republican Jewish Coalition plays the Iran card in making the case for why Jews shouldn’t be kvelling (JTA’s Ron Kampeas is on the story).

Mendy Ganchrow, a former president of the Orthodox Union, founder of a pro-Israel PAC and frequent supporter of GOP candidates, splits the difference.

Ha’aretz: The Dems say they’ll convince the Jews not to be afraid of Obama.

The New Republic looks at the Democratic Party’s efforts to reach out to the faithful at the convention. (Kampeas is all over the same topic here and here.)

The New York Times takes a look at Marissa Shorenstein, 29, whose now attended five Democratic conventions.  Her great-great uncle, Hyman Schorenstein, was the legendary party boss of Brownsville, Brooklyn, and a delegate to the raucous Democratic National Convention in New York in 1924.

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Jewish Republicans: Biden’s soft on Iran

By Ami Eden · August 24, 2008

Here’s the statement released by the Republican Jewish Coalition:

Washington, D.C. (August 23, 2008) – Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matt Brooks issued the following statement today:

“With the selection of Senator Joe Biden as Senator Obama’s vice president, the Democrat’s ticket has now become an even greater gamble for the Jewish community. Throughout his career, Senator Biden has consistently been wrong on Iran and his voting record on Israel has been inconsistent. Like Obama, Biden fundamentally misunderstands the threat posed by an Iran determined to obtain nuclear weapons. Biden has continuously demonstrated poor judgment on Iran. He has voted against significant legislation that would pressure Iran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons. Biden has failed to recognize the serious threat that Iran poses to Israel and the US and its allies in the Middle East,” said RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks.

In 1998, Sen. Biden was one of only four senators to vote against the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act, a bill that punished foreign companies or other entities that sent Iran sensitive missile technology or expertise. Biden was one of the few senators to oppose the bipartisan 2007 Kyl-Lieberman Amendment labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. In a December 2007 debate, Biden said “Iran is not a nuclear threat to the United States of America.” On MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Biden said he “never believed” Iran had a weapon system under production.

“The Jewish community was already gravely concerned with Senator Obama’s na?ve understanding of the Iranian threat. An Obama-Biden ticket has proven that it is ill-equipped to deal with this threat. By selecting Senator Biden to join his ticket, voting for Senator Obama has now become an even greater risk,” said Brooks.

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Biden and the Jews

By Ami Eden · August 24, 2008

JTA’s Ron Kampeas and Eric Fingerhut have a story up about Joe Biden’s longstanding relationship with Israel and the Jewish community:

Before he announced his vice presidential pick on Saturday, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he wanted someone to spar with but who ultimately would be loyal enough to create a comfortable working relationship.

No one knew then that he had picked U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), 65, but his ISO ad fit Biden’s relationship with the Jewish community to a tee.

The loquacious Biden, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1973, has sparred frequently with the pro-Israel community and with Israelis, particularly on the issue of settlements. But he has a sterling voting record on pro-Israel issues, and has as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee helped shepherd through key pro-Israel legislation.

Click here to read the full story.

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Obama taps Biden

By Ami Eden · August 24, 2008

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Political tidbits

By Eric Fingerhut · August 21, 2008

• 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.’ “

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Lieberman: Still an asset in attracting Jewish votes?

By Eric Fingerhut · August 20, 2008

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.

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No Joementum among Republicans

By Eric Fingerhut · August 20, 2008

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.

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No clear-cut favorite for Dem VP among Jewish activists

By Eric Fingerhut · August 19, 2008

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.

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What did they call him?

By Eric Fingerhut · August 19, 2008

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.

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