Jewish vote on someone’s mind
-
- July
- 24
Just how important is the Jewish vote to Barack Obama?
The Wash Post writes today that Team Obama put tremendous focus on his visit to Israel, hoping to overcome Jewish skepticism toward the candidate.
The Post says:
Plans for yesterday’s swing through Israel and the West Bank were hashed and rehashed, down to who would accompany the candidate, what venues he would appear at, whom he would meet, and even the order of those meetings.“There was some very serious thought that went into this,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a national co-chairman of the Obama campaign who consulted with the campaign about the trip.
A group of Jewish leaders in New England met on July 11 in Boston to talk about concerns with Obama. Their points were relayed to Obama before he left for his international adventure.
“As impressive and phenomenal as the senator’s campaign has been, he just hasn’t been on the scene as long as others have been,” said U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, a Democrat from New Hampshire. “And the Jewish community is one that has a special feeling when it comes to roots.”
Meanwhile, a Jewish adviser to Obama tells the Jewish Week that the candidate is “baffled” by Jewish resistance to his candidacy.
“I’ve heard him say that some of the things that have been raised about him in the Jewish community are baffling and ironic, in light of the depth of his relationship with the Jewish community in Illinois,” said former California Rep. Mel Levine.
James Besser, the Jewish Week’s Washington correspondent, sums things up:
There is an almost talismanic quality to the Jewish vote. Several Jewish Democrats said this week that while the 62 percent of the Jewish community Obama garnered in a poll last week may be high compared to his support from other white voter groups, the fact he is lagging behind other recent Democratic candidates suggests continuing unease about his foreign policy experience. And that may affect commentators and pundits, who increasingly regard the Jewish community’s views as a political benchmark on candidates’ foreign policy qualifications.Obama’s 62 percent showing came in a poll by J Street, the new pro-peace process political action committee and lobby group, and was about the same as he scored in a Gallup survey in May. McCain captured 32 percent of the Jewish vote in the new J Street poll, which surveyed 800 Jews.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 9:08 am by Gary Stern.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
Print
| 
Email
The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
