This article is an example of Washington Times journalism
at its worst. It is essentially a rewrite of RNC talking points. There is absolutely no new information in the story, which could have been -- and was -- written at various times in the last year or two.
While Bush will probably do better among Jewish voters than he did in 2000, that's not saying much. Jews essentially vote on ideology and cultural identity. They will do so again.
Team Bush is wise to court Jewish voters and donors because they are disproportionately articulate, involved in politics, and well-placed in society. But it would be unwise to spend too much time on any Democratic constituency at the expense of shoring up, and firing up,
the Republican base.
Do you dispute the accuracy or relevance of any of the points made in the article?
It is p!sspoor logic, at best, to work from the unproven (and unprovable) assumption that American Jews are inherently a "Democratic constituency"; or, for that matter, that they cannot reliably be included within "the Republican base."
It also presumes (again, sans even so much as a scintilla of supporting evidence) that any given political party's "base" is, de facto, something remaining static over the span of decades, or centuries. Both parties -- Republican and 'Rat -- have seen radical alterations in what were once considered core, unalterable "base" constituencies, preferences and priorities, over the years.
(e.g.: President Kennedy successfully ran for President on the then-traditional Dem "base" platforms of a strong national defense, and deep tax cuts. Clearly, neither of these is a 'Rat "base" party platform now. And so it goes, and so it goes.)
The Jewish vote needs to be cultivated because they no longer have a "comfortable" home in the Democrat Party. There are a ton of Jew haters in the left wing of the Democrat Party as recently evidenced by the remarks of Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC)! Add to that, any American Jew that does vote Democrat this November is voting for their own death and doom. They better clearly realize that the paramount objective of Arab terrorists is to kill every Jew in this world. Electing John Kerry will give carte blanche to the killers of Jews across the world, and here in the United States. If Harvey Weinstein and Al Franken, Barbra Streisand, etc. think they are going to be protected by the likes of Democrat John Kerry and the "traitor" Democrat Party, they are in for a fatal surprise! They will join Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg as headless Jews hanging out forever in the hereafter! American Jews better wise up! The handwriting os clearly on the wall for all to see!!!
Welcome to the forum. I would hope you are equally critical of the Times' counterpart across town. While both have their agendas, you're IMHO much more likely to get both sides of a story from the Times.