Posted on 02/28/2004 10:05:09 PM PST by Jacvin
Local GOP chief seeks converts in west Delray
By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 29, 2004
For the heavily Jewish, heavily Democratic population around west Delray Beach, the South County Civic Center is a sort of unofficial town hall.
Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein ventured there early last week, walking through the lobby named for prominent local Jewish Democrat Murray Kalish and into the auditorium named for prominent local Jewish Democrat Andre Fladell to deliver a simple message: Jews should vote Republican.
Dinerstein, who is Jewish, was speaking to a generally receptive crowd of about 200. Some curious Democrats were there, but most of the attendees were part of a joint meeting of the Jewish Outreach of the Boca Raton Republican Club and the Latin American Republicans of Palm Beach County. Some black Republicans were on hand as well, including the head of the local Black Republican Caucus.
"We are shredding the past and marching forward... reaching out to nontraditional communities," declared state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, who is Jewish.
Jewish voters are indeed a "nontraditional" constituency for Republicans. Surveys suggest that about two-thirds of Jews nationally are Democrats and that about 80 percent of Jewish voters chose Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
In Palm Beach County, at least 20 percent of voters are Jewish, estimates Ira Sheskin, a University of Miami professor who has surveyed the county's Jewish population. Jewish retirees have traditionally been a major force in the county Democratic Party.
But Republicans have stepped up efforts in recent months to compete for Jewish votes.
Dinerstein and county GOP Vice Chairwoman Cheryl Mullings are Jewish. And Hasner and Boca Raton Mayor Steve Abrams, who is Jewish, are seen as rising stars in the local Republican Party.
The Boca Raton Republican Club's Jewish outreach group hosted a forum on "Why Jews Should Be Republicans" at the civic center in October, leading to a shouting match between Republicans and Democrats. The organizer of that event, retired high school Principal Alan Bergstein, filed this month to run in the heavily Jewish, heavily Democratic county commission district now represented by Democrat Burt Aaronson.
Dinerstein is an unabashed free-market capitalist, tax-cut advocate, school-voucher champion and critic of liberal social programs. Brooklyn-born Dinerstein, 57, says that, when he was growing up, Democrats ran New York and "that city became so awful that all the liberals moved here."
On Monday night, however, Dinerstein focused on Israel and terrorism. President Bush has been a staunch defender of Israel and foe of terrorists, Dinerstein argued, while Democrats have been weak.
"The Jewish state is attacked by Scud missiles from Iraq, suicide bombers from the West Bank and rhetoric from the United Nations. And the majority of Jews in America, the left-behind liberals, respond with appeasement, apologies and apathy," Dinerstein said.
"There will be no appeasing the terrorists. And there will be no appeasing the appeasers. They can be pro-Kerry or they can be pro-Israel. But they can't be both," Dinerstein said.
Asked afterward to explain why he thinks Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry would be bad for Israel, Dinerstein called Kerry an "internationalist" who favors a greater role for the U.N. in resolving conflicts. "If you are pro-U.N. on foreign policy, then by definition you are anti-Israel," Dinerstein said.
Dinerstein's emphasis on Israel failed to persuade a woman who addressed Dinerstein during a question-and-answer session after his remarks.
"I'm a Jew, but I am an American first," said Lillian Swarth, a retired college professor from New York spending the winter in Boynton Beach. Swarth said she cares more about domestic issues.
"There are times when national security trumps all other issues," Dinerstein replied.
george_bennett@pbpost.com
I am a Jew who gravitated to the Libertarians after Richard Nixon disappointed me so badly. In fact, it was Nixon's price controls that precipitated the formation of the Libertarian Party in 1971. It became obvious to us that Republicans talk constitutional adherence and freedom but they do not walk their talk.
It is a two party system because state laws make ballot access a serious problem and your friendly media ignore third parties that have a chance. There is nothing in the constitution that makes this a two party nation. In fact the founders feared party (or as they said faction) since it twisted the results of politics.
The main issue now though is that the two parties are both grossly unacceptable. They both ignore the constitution and spend like drunken sailors. A freedom loving person has no choice but to vote third party this year.
By far, the majority of Libertarians are ex-Republicans. We were drawn into the Republican party by Barry Goldwater and chased out by Richard Nixon.
Pejoratives like calling us liberals count as ad hominems, an attack on the speaker without actually answering his points. They usually mean you have no answer.
Does that mean that you will vote Republican, even though they do not represent your views at all, just because they once did? This is not the Republican party of your youth, it is not the party that nominated Barry Goldwater. It is almost indistinguishable from the Democratic party.
It is foolhardy to keep following it into tyranny.
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