[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

Unlike 2004, when just about everyone running for president except George W. Bush was producing a Jewish relative of some sort, the two nominees, John McCain and Barack Obama, aren't pretending to be members of the tribe.

Needless to say Tobin isn't familiar with the many references to Michelle "don't say anything about her" Obama's first cousin who is a Rabbi at a black Israelite/Ethiopian congregation in Chicago. Not the nutty black Israelites.

[Cvengr]

Nor can a politician who is not from the Northeast and has not worked on foreign-policy issues match a record of stands on Israel such as the one that Palin's Democratic counterpart, Sen. Joe Biden, can offer.....Like McCain's stands, Biden's history of engagement with Jews and the pro-Israel community is a reasonable argument to be made by those who advocate his election. But the fact that the top of the Democratic ticket couldn't match Biden's record on Israel won't stop Jewish Democrats from voting for Obama. ....

Instead, they have chosen to judge the candidate on the positions that he has articulated during the course of the campaign. Since Obama has, more or less, jumped through every rhetorical hoop the pro-Israel community has asked him to jump through, they have every right to now claim that their candidate is every bit as entitled to the label "pro-Israel" as anyone else.

elsewehre,

According to the report, Biden reaffirmed to the Israelis his rejection of military action against Iran, but also admitted that diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program had little or no chance of success. In essence, Biden resigned himself to the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran and told the Israelis that they, too, would have to accept that outcome. from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072661/posts

One of the major reasons I would oppose Biden is this stance and hypocritical public position. If the Obama-Biden ticket isn't as forthcoming on this position, can there be any doubt they are just as duplicitous on all other issues regarding the Constitution of the US? Considering the justifiable doubt in credibility of Obama's credentials as an American citizen and dubious expression of the Constitution as foundational to the nation he seeks to lead, IMHO, I know no reason for any American to even consider him as a viable candidate. To bad the democrats can't return to the basics of expressing their sincerest beliefs, but instead run to any wind of change blowing by them, searching for another pretense to tickle their ears.

[justiceseeker93]

This Tobin is annoying with his attempt at an "evenhanded" approach to this year's presidential election. He's not hiding his Democrat partisanship very well when he writes, "...[Palins's] statements regarding her strong belief in support for Israel to memmbers of AIPAC attending the Republican National Convention last week were every bit as convicing as those of Obama." Well, if Palin was just as convincing as Obama - who recanted his support for an undivided Jerusalem the day after his speech before AIPAC - then Tobin doesn't think very much of Palin's position.

And consider this condescending regional snobbery on the part of Tobin:

"Nor can any politician who is not from the Northeast and has not worked on foreigh policy issues match a record of stands on Israel that Sen. Joe Biden can offer."

What difference does it make as to what part of the country some politician is from if he has a voting record which indicates that he tends toward appeasement of Ahmadinejad's Iran, as Biden's record does? Why can't a young politician from Alaska, like Palin, have a just as favorable a view of the Israeli cause in the Middle East, if not more favorable, than an old hack from Delaware?