Posted on 06/05/2008 7:21:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Norman Kaplan brought a printout of an e-mail with him to the ROMEOs luncheon last Friday at the Tallgrass Creek retirement community’s Blue Sky restaurant. The headline was “Michelle Obama’s Militant Racism Revealed,” and it highlighted allegedly objectionable passages from the would-be First Lady’s 1985 college senior thesis at Princeton.
ROMEOs stands for Retired Old Men’s Eating Organization, and they are a predominantly Jewish bunch. But, like many professional pundits these days, Kaplan doesn’t think Sen. Barack Obama will get the traditional 75 or 80 percent of the American Jewish vote if he does, indeed, become the Democratic presidential nominee.
“I don’t think so,” Kaplan said. “There are a lot of reasons. That’s why I brought this article. Even though we have presidents, the wives have a lot to do with it. The Reverend (Jeremiah Wright) has a lot to do with it.
“And second, there is something about (Obama) I just don’t like. I don’t know how or why. … He doesn’t have enough experience to be president. … He’s not the right man right now. It’s not because he’s black.”
Kaplan, who said he generally votes Democratic, has “no idea” who he’d vote for if the major-party choices in November are Obama and Sen. John McCain.
Opinion among the ROMEOs was hardly unanimous on this issue.
“I’m going to vote for (Obama),” said Bob Kleban. Kleban said he thinks Obama would get the traditional 3- or 4-to-1 support from American Jews.
“There is a lot of stuff if you want to believe every e-mail. I don’t put too much stock in it,” he said.
Paul Russell agreed, “because McCain is not an option for most Jews.”
Russell knows that some question Obama’s commitment to Israel but says, “We won’t know until he’s president. I believe he will be as staunch a supporter as his predecessors.”
Lingering concerns
On the other hand, it wasn’t hard to find nay-sayers among the 70 or so ROMEOs at last week’s luncheon.
Herb Fishman, who spends half the year in Florida, says, “I get people saying they will vote for McCain versus Obama. They don’t know Obama. The truth comes when they get in that voting booth and pull the curtain. Then it’s a gut reaction that tells you who to vote for, and Jews have doubts about Obama.”
Jack Bohm, who’s backing Sen. Hillary Clinton, thinks Obama would get a clear majority of the Jewish vote but not the traditional whopping margin.
“I don’t know how he begins to separate fact from fiction, with the Internet stuff about his supposed ties to Islam,” said Andy Hilvitz. “Jews aren’t immune to this stuff. He’s got a job cut out for himself.”
Marty Fox, who traditionally votes Republican, thinks Obama would get a historically low percentage of the Jewish vote — 50 percent.
“Fifty percent will go to the Republicans,” Fox said. “Jews would feel safer under McCain, and Israel would be protected, based on what McCain has said. … Obama has never said anything, except that he’ll talk to our enemies.”
At last Thursday’s annual fundraising dinner sponsored by the local chapter of the scrupulously non-partisan American Israel Public Affairs Committee, chapter president Dr. Larry Nussbaum considered the question of Obama and the Jewish vote.
“I think Jews will continue to be majority Democratic,” Dr. Nussbaum said, “but not 80-20; maybe 60-40. People are concerned about Obama’s foreign policy regarding Israel, even though his statements are good.”
Allan Abrams, a local member of the board of directors of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, has been an Obama supporter from early on, and he hopes his fellow Jews will give Obama their traditional vote margin.
“I think he will get very close to that … because people who have been paying attention to the news can’t help but see what he has done before and with Jewish groups,” Abrams said. “His statements have been quite supportive of Jews in general and of Israel. He has acquitted himself very well of any charges of anti-Semitism or anti-Israel. … I don’t think the great majority of educated, informed people believe that.”
Still, one Obama supporter among the ROMEOs hinted at the reticence the candidate will have to overcome if he is to fully tap the Jewish vote, Jewish campaign contributions and Jewish political influence.
“I don’t like his middle name,” said Harold Prince. “His name is Hussein, and we had a war to get rid of a guy named Hussein.”
Even so, Prince said, “I would vote for him over McCain.”
A significant swing in the Jewish vote toward the GOP could also help in close battleground states like NJ, PA, OH, and MI.
Also California, if in addition (unless Richardson is the Veep Nominee), Obama’s Latino problem persists.
They (lib Jews)will have to decide whether their hatred of anything that remotely reeks of Christian conservative outweighs any consideration they might have or not have for their quasi kinsmen in the Holy Land.
..or not.
and liberal Jewish women will have to decide if Hillary's slight could cause a defection to McCain and giving up momentarily their covenant with abortion and fembotism.
it will be interesting.
in my opinion, since it's perfectly acceptable for Jews to relate to and defend their fellow Jews in Israel without recrimination unlike myself as a white Christian who dare not defend my kinsmen in the Balkans or South Africa then they should by all means if they have any brains (or lack of self hatred) vote for McCain.
There is no doubt whatsoever to me that Obama is the most pro-Islam candidate we have ever had.
It's a tribute to how weak whites have become, how racist so many blacks actually are, and how effective the media really is that he has this nomination.
Throw in David Horowitz, Jonah and Lucianne Goldberg, Mona Charen, and Charles Krauthammer for good measure.
Weinberger may have been of German heritage, but he was not Jewish. Friends of mine in the Reagan Administration have said that Caspar was actually borderline anti-semitic (his comments about Pollard substantiate some of this claim).
Give Caspar some due, he did help bring down the Soviet Union, but I wouldn’t want him or Jim Baker covering my back. (Caesar learned the hard way).
He was of Jewish ancestry (father’s side), his mother was Christian and he was an Episcopalian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_Weinberger
I do think though that they have an uncanny ability to choose the wrongs sides historically and lately in America have become very openly hostile to the very aspects of the host nation they inhabit that made it great to begin with.
Liberal Jews seem to be too clever by half politically. It's not all just because they were always persecuted. So have others and they don't become so lib.. Jews like to remain distinct and separate and exclusive and dare I say it....somewhat superior (and somewhat deserving of being called superior admittedly) but dang if ya’ll just can't resist that siren call of messianic humanism .
However....this seems to be a European Jewish pattern more than with other Jews. Israelis for example do not share the antipathy towards Christian conservatism that American Jews have....
I'm not sure modern theological Judaism beyond Conservative or Orthodox lends itself to conservatism. The Reformed religion is Jewish history, tradition and liberalism. Change the World, resist pluralism, tikkun olam.
Providential and never ending.
It's not by chance most Jews are lefties and nearly all non-apostate Cjristians are not.
Actually Jews are not sheep and they are damned bright....at least the 100s I’ve known.
I have had this conversation for 35 years now. Jews today are anti-GOP primarily because they have a strong dislike for Christian conservatism.
Many Conservative Jews may not love Christian conservatism much either but it’s not pivotal to them.
This is all I ever here....”We must keep the Religious right from power”. And liberal Jewish women tend to be pretty feminist and very pro-abortion.
Jews are urban, they think urban. They vote urban. They tend to cluster with like folks....Manhattan, Bergen, Scardale, LA, North Miami Beach, Scottsdale. Classic human behavior by identity yet they generally eschew this very behavior they themselves deploy. If they were farmers and oil drillers they’d probably be more conservative.
“All too many of them have an addiction to the ‘Rats that persists regardless to the danger that addiction presents.”
Thank you for replying - so you mean it’s THAT simple???
Well, how sad, but I’m glad Israeli jews (redundant-DUH) don’t feel the same way.
“What I’ve said just touches the surface and, ironically, if FDR had lived there would never been an Israel and he would’ve played a double game to stop that state from emerging.”
Thanks so much!!! I guess I’m thinking of the present situation (incessantly) where Israel is “the little satan” and WE are “the big satan” - i.e., we’re in this together. My dad is no fan of the jews, for some reason, but as I always tell him, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. And we face an enemy today, right now, like no other.
(BTW, I hear you on McCain - but now we must look at the alternative (end of this country if BHO gets his way).
Any more or less depressed than liberals in general?
Now why would you want a Jew’s light? You’ve already proven your distaste for the Jewish people as Jews.
Talk about chutzpah!
May the peace of Christ be with you too.
Yup, the Jews are cursed, thus suffer for so say Christians of your ilk. How Islamic of you.
BTW, thanks for presenting such a clear example of why many Jews will not affiliate with the GOP so early in the thread.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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Obama will win the Jewish vote handily.
So all the Christians who sat quietly by and allowed Hitler and his goons to do what they did, because the Jews really deserved it? Is that true Christian teaching or Pat Puke-cannon channeling?
Speaking as a Jewish Republican, I'm not sure if that's a major factor in the Jewish "tradition" of supporting the 'Rats, but rather more of an excuse for maintaing it. It should be noted that Christian conservatism is a relatively new political phenomenon, one that didn't take root until the 1970s. But the Jewish addiction to the 'Rats began well before then.
Even more importantly, McCain is certainly not a candidate who has that "Christian conservative" identity, so Jewish libs can't use that as legit excuse this year.
In a word, ‘yes’. Most Jews I know are conservative, but the vast majority are going to vote in lockstep for the ‘rat nominee. And the old ones will vote ‘rat because AARP tells them the republicans are going to take away their social security.
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