Petition - "McCain: What were you thinking when you selected Palin?"

To tell Senator John McCain what you think of his selection of Governor Sarah Palin please click here.

Today, Ira N. Forman, NJDC Executive Director, sent out the following call to action:

Senator John McCain made a poor choice in his first critical presidential decision with his vice presidential selection of Governor Sarah Palin.  We, in the Jewish community, have to question McCain’s judgment for choosing a right-wing religious conservative with absolutely no foreign policy experience and a brewing scandal which is being investigated by the Alaska state legislature.

It is ironic that McCain, who turned 72 last week, has said, “The fundamental principle behind any selection of a running mate would be whether that person is fully prepared to take over.” And then McCain selected Palin???

On a broad range of issues, Palin is totally out of step with Jewish public opinion:

- Palin believes that creationism should be taught in our public schools.

- Palin is against reproductive choice and is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

- Palin does not believe climate change is man-made.

- Palin says she is against wasteful government spending, yet she endorsed the “bridge to nowhere” and then flip-flopped when it became a political liability.

Do we really want Palin to be one heartbeat away from the presidency?

Please sign the letter to McCain, and tell him how disappointed you are in his selection of Palin.

This is information that the Jewish community needs to know; please send this information to your friends and family.

Comments

[MLM]

The GOP is shooting for a culture war in a last ditch effort to distract the electorate from BushCo's disastrous policies.

Their divisive politics will be their downfall. Americans aren't stupid, we're rising up to take back our government.

NO Repubs Left Behind in 2008!

[Damir Ibrisimovic]

What choice of Palin did for McCain’s campaign?

It electrified ultraconservative Republicans and some female voters in ways McCain could not. Was that a mistake?
No, but this tells us a lot about McCain. He has nothing to offer to electrify anybody. Since there is no substance in his campaign this was the last (risky) option left.
McCain takes risks, too many risks. Taking risks is not always bravery.
The way of choosing potential VP also indicates the style of his potential presidency.

I think that Americans need substance that will address their problems and offer hope. Not a thrilling rollercoaster ride. It is time to put ideological and other divides aside. Judge for yourself, not how others tell you.

[Mary]

I'm not Jewish so I won't sign your petition but I approve of what you're doing. I rather suspect that McCain did not anticipate the blowback from the Jewish community with his selection of Palin. It reminds me of the Hagee endorsement. The only difference is that he can't run away from Palin, now.
Or can he?

[Joseph W. Mathews]

I'm proud that our Jewish friends have the guts to call this nomination what it is (i.e. the worst possible disaster in American political history).

There also are rumors floating about her church and a lot more. While not Jewish, I commend you and am glad to sign your letter. We're all Americans after all and have the right of free speech. Something Palin hasn't a clue about.

[K. S. Braun]

What concerns me most about Sarah Palin is that she's an unknown coming out of a part of the country that has less in common with the rest of the country than other states. She's a cipher, IOW. I'm sure the campaign will work on her and she will repeat what they tell her but I won't feel comfortable that I know anything genuine.

[Donna Nelson]

Senator McCain-
I am so disappointed in your choice. I know that you don't really believe that Palin would be capable to serve as President. It is not too late to make a change.

[Bertha Lutz]

It is in the realm of possibility that Sarah Palin ,if elected, would have to deal with Russia, Iran and various troublemakers around the world. If McCain, whose motto is " Country First" had put the country ahead of his desire to win the consevative vote, he would have chosen a more qualified person to deal with these situations.

[mom]

You don't have to be Jewish to sign the petition. Palin's track record shows she is not willing to make decisions in the best interests of the majority of people in this country. I find it laughable that Joe Lieberman is giving her a crash course in foreign relations. McCain, if he wants to win the female vote, should rescind this choice and pick a more qualified Republican woman.

[Bryan Reddi]

Congratulations on your attraction of so many messhuganuh goyem to your site.(Please pardon my phonetic attempt to spell a Yiddish word. I am not Jewish.)

What a comic gift basket of fruitckes and nutcases I found here. It made my evening!! Out of the blue, Mary says Gov. Palin "hasn't a clue about"..."the right to free speech". What?? Did I miss something? Calm down Mary, no one is coming to get you...but do try to keep it down after 10PM, OK?
Next was Joseph, probably from New York, in dread over what "concerned (him) most about Sarah Palin"...that she was "from a part of the country that has less in common with the rest of the country". Can you believe this guy? Joseph, calm down, have a warm nilk, maybe some nice soup...and then go online to census.gov. There you will be reassured to learn that the majority of our people survive outside of the majority liberal major urban enclaves of the US. A huge % live in rural areas which share much with Alaskans.

And would you believe, about 60% of Americans ID themselves as conservative?...no kidding, they do, and they have for years & years (see the 'battleground polls', a long term cooperative venture among liberal & conservative pollsters).

Regarding commitment to the security of Israel, here's my common sense suggestion for all of the fretting numbnuts. Worry about Senator Obama...who recently assured a private gathering of high Israeli officials of his unwavering commitment to an undivided Jeruselam and 1 hour later took exactly the opposite position in a gathering with a different audience.

Not surprising really. In America he tells small town and rural people on the campaign trail that he shares their religious values, cultural traditions and deeply held commitment to their constitutional rights. Days or hours later, in NYC or in SanFrancisco or in the Cook (crook) County inner sanctum, he mocks and derides those same people who, as do Israelis, "cling to their guns and their religion".

Please remember that when it comes to defending Israel, it wont take a village or a committee, and it certainly won't take a community organizer...good luck waiting for that. It takes men and women who know where they stand and what they believe in and who have a track record of doing the right thing...no matter how difficult, or freigtening, no matter if it isn't popular,...people of honor, of courage, of integrity with will of iron. This is not Senator Obama. This is Senator McCain and Gov. Palen.

Just one more thing, please do not cast aspersions on the other religions unless you can make the case that their actions demonstate that they are hateful or harmful to others. Somehow I doubt that a person who has built a family so full of love as has Gov. Palen could ever be associated with a corrupt and hateful religous sect. And unless you really have something to show by way of proof to indict her behavior you ought not to suggest or malichously 'merely mention it' in a sneaky and cowardly way suggest that she does.

Let's not practice prejudice while criticizing others. Put up or shut up.

For example, we have Sen. Obama as a committed member of a congregation for over 20 years where unvarnished racial and religous bigotry were spewed like raw sewage into the minds and hearts of congregants....and we have a long history of this on CD's and DVD's which this group proudly offered for sale at the church. Sort of a 'Greatest Hits of Hate' collection. Sen. Obama was not an accidental attendee, who one Sunday stumbled upon a visiting speaker who caught him by surprise.

Please wake up. What is in your coolaide?

[Ann Ross]

Couldn't you have found a woman who supports other women? There really are some out there. On issues I care about, I find Palin's stances appalling. Could we please vote on issues other than color and looks? Please....

[Michelle]

I am a proud Jewish American Democrat.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are neo-cons, extremist zealots, and would be Wrong for our Country.

John McCain was involved in the Keating 5 scandal and he still has lobbyists managing his campaign.

Sarah Palin is under investigation for Trooper Gate.

They both are hypocrites and can not be trusted.

I will be voting for Barack Obama for President.