Free Republic

Yesterday, I laid out the very favorable environment for any Democrat running for President this year. I noted that the current Obama lead of 4-5% is very modest, given the structural advantages any Democrat would have in this year's race. But there is another way to look at the race: namely that absent some of the unique structural or environmental advantages that exist for Democrats this year, John McCain should be running away from Barack Obama. While this may sound irrational to some, I believe the key to a McCain victory is to focus his campaign and the voting public...

Hamas, the Islamic Resistance movement, has won an overwhelming victory in the Palestinian legislative elections. The latest count is that they have captured 76 seats to 43 for Fatah out of the 132 seats in the legislature, or well over half. The victory and the scope of the victory suggest that all the pre-election polling could have been done by John Zogby. It was that far off. The conventional wisdom prior to the election was that Hamas would do very well, and achieve a strong minority position in the government, maybe capturing a third of the seats. For this, they...

There will be plenty of time to argue about who was responsible for the slow response in New Orleans this week in dealing with those who did not choose to leave, or were unable to leave the city before the hurricane hit. The catastrophe that followed, when the levees gave way, and 80% of the city, and many of the surrounding suburbs flooded, was far worse than the hurricane itself.  Already many seem to have forgotten that New Orleans officials thought they had escaped Katina’s wrath as the storm moved north from the Gulf on Monday, prior to the levees...

[Editor's note: this article is based on a recent address to meeting of the 42nd Ward GOP in Chicago, July 20th]This topic is an unusual one. An argument that Israel is a stabilizing force suggests that many people hold a different view. It is worth directly confronting that view of Israel as a destabilizer.  But it is also worth noting that destabilization is not necessarily a bad thing. Saudi Arabia with its export of Wahhabist books and videos and radical imams and its funding of madrassas is playing a destabilizing role in the Middle East and elsewhere by helping create...

There is good news and bad news.* The good news is that the reports of the decline of Jewish and pro-Israel influence, and the rise of Arab/Muslim influence in the American political system are at the moment greatly exaggerated. The bad news is that change is underway, and the relative shift described above is occurring. Daniel Pipes has recently written that the golden age of Jews in America is ending. Today I will explore that thesis, particularly as it relates to American support for Israel. I will address several issues: 1. The changing political dynamics within the two parties -...

There is good news and bad news.*  The good news is that the reports of the decline of Jewish and pro-Israel influence, and the rise of Arab/Muslim influence in the American political system are at the moment greatly exaggerated. The bad news is that change is underway, and the relative shift described above is occurring.  Daniel Pipes has recently written that the golden age of Jews in America is ending. Today I will explore that thesis, particularly as it relates to American support for Israel.  I will address several issues: 1. The changing political dynamics within the two parties - and...

[Editor's note: this article is a transcription of a talk delivered by Richard Baehr at Temple Beth Israel, Skokie, Illinois Dec. 5, 2004]I will explain today why Israel is viewed differently in Europe than in the United States. Specifically, I will address: Europe’s relations with the US; Europe and its Jews; Europe and its Arabs; Europe and Israel; Europe itself - the rapid changes in demographics, politics and economics that  have occurred  and are occurring on the  continent. When I refer to Europe, I mean Western Europe and the EU (all of Western Europe except Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland).As an alum of...

The Other Coming Out Party May 21st, 2004 On Monday, the first legal gay marriages took place in Massachusetts. Tuesday was another “coming out” day - for Jewish Republicans. I attended the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, as I have for the last 14 years. Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, and Bibi Netanyahu, have all been enthusiastically received by the AIPAC audience in years past. But the raucous, chanting reception for President Bush on Tuesday morning topped them all. From the moment the crowd of well over 4,000 filled the ballroom, the excitement was palpable. As...

Senator John Kerry has been making nice with Jewish leaders the past two weeks since he has become the all but certain nominee of his party to run against President Bush. He met with 40 major Jewish organization leaders in New York last week, and publicly reversed position on several issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He now says he supports Israel’s security fence. In the fall, Kerry attacked Israel’s security fence in front of an Arab American group in Michigan,  claiming it was a barrier to peace. Kerry now admits that President Bush was right to isolate PA chairman...