NJDC's Blog

A New Blog by a Fellow Jewish Democrat - "Neurotic Democrat"

On the "Neurotic Democrat" you will find posts about Jewish Democratic politics and even some NJDC events. Please check it out. "Neurotic Democrat" blog, authored by Josh Rolnick, has many great insights and much to say.

There are a few posts on the NJDC's events in Denver for the Democratic Convention including, the event honoring Jewish members of congress, the panel on the Jewish vote, and the square table discussion on Jewish values and politics.

Yesterday, after a talk by Susannah Heschel Rolnick put up terrific post and in a post today "Neurotic Democrat" directly criticized the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).

Glad to see more people joining the cause.

Country First, if You Pray for it

The Jewish community has traditionally judged candidates based on a golden standard, their voting record and public statements. As executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), Ira N. Forman, said, “As a young lobbyist for AIPAC, my boss, the executive director, taught me that the way to assess a candidate for higher political office is to ‘go to the pro-Israel voting record.’ My boss was Morris Amitay.” The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and other Republican groups have ignored this rule as of late, threatening the strong bipartisan support and very safety of Israel.

Enter Sarah Palin.

Palin's only record on anything resembling a substantive stance on Israel is signing a resolution supporting Israel and Alaska’s friendship. Well, Israel needs more than friends, it needs allies willing to fight and defend her. Her public record on Israel, or any foreign policy for that matter, is virtually non-existent..

Look here for NJDC’s statement on the choice of Sarah Palin and here for Marc Stanley’s, Chairman of the NJDC, Op-Ed that was featured in the Jerusalem Post yesterday.

Jewish Bush Supporters for Obama? You Bet!

When his campaign for President was launched, Senator Barack Obama promised that he would bring not only Democrats, but Independents and Republicans as well to build a new governing coalition. Well, count another prominent Jewish supporter of Bush in 2004 on the Obama bandwagon.

Jack Rosen is the Chairman of the American Jewish Congress and the Council of World Jewry, and he is an Obama fan.

In a 2004 Washington Post article Rosen noted that, "It would be a mistake for the Jewish community not to show our appreciation to the president."

Yet, here is where Mr. Rosen stands now: “I supported George Bush in 2004 because of his support for Israel, and I support Barack Obama in 2008 because of his.”

In noting his switch, Rosen mentions that “unlike Reagan, Clinton, and Bush, Obama can point to many concrete votes on legislation important to Israel.” He continues to state “he has gone as far as any candidate in history in innumerable speeches and statements highlighting his commitment to the US-Israel partnership and the security of the Jewish state.”

I am glad to see he came around to see things differently this time around.

Daily Show’s Shtick on Obama’s Jewish Problem

Last night, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart addressed whether or not Senator Barack Obama can win over Jewish voters. The “Jewish vote” question has received a lot of attention from major news sources, such as The New York Times, CNN and MSNBC. This has been intensified recently with Obama’s upcoming trip to Israel.

In a segment called “Baruch Obama,” correspondent Wyatt Cenac discusses the Jewish vote with South Florida Jewish voters, including NJDC Board Member, Florida Senator Jeremy Ring.

The video also features a “focus group” of Jews from a Boca Raton, FL retirement community. While the clip is designed primarily for laughs, it does reveal some of the misconceptions in the Jewish community concerning Obama.

NJDC’s Stop the Smears campaign is aimed at combating these misnomers. We have continuously addressed lies and distortions by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Fox News, conservative groups and the RJC...again.

Despite these attacks, the latest Gallup Poll shows Obama leading Senator John McCain with Jewish voters, 62-29.

NJDC’s Executive Director, Ira N. Forman, recently confirmed that poll numbers shows that, “there’s a solid support for Obama in the Jewish community.”

On our blog you will also find a fact sheet identifying key differences between McCain and Obama for Jewish voters.

Armed with the correct information about the candidates, as the polls shows, it is obvious to Jewish voters whose values are more in sync with the Jewish community. However, a few laughs about the issue can’t hurt…

A Poll is Worth a Thousand Polls

It’s a funny thing how much we really can glean from polls. For instance, a Rasmussen poll released Monday showed Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama in a statistical dead heat. Over the last few days, numerous polls, including the Washington Post, Quinnipiac, and Gallup showed Obama averaging a 3-9 point lead. Polls are by no means perfect, but when added into the mix can provide critical understandings in elections.

Our Press Secretary, Aaron Keyak, shows just how much can be gained from polls in a piece yesterday in the Huffington Post. In it, he looks at just how out of sync McCain is with the Jewish voters his campaign so aggressively courts.

A separate post on MyDD by Jonathan Singer takes a close look at polling among Jewish voters in the last few Presidential elections. He reveals and analyzes the historical trends of Jewish voters in recent Presidential races.

It’s refreshing to see some substance to go with the numbers.

Fox News, Anti-Semitic Photo Editing?

According to Media Matters Fox News altered photos of two New York Times reporters.

Click here to read the story and notice who's nose they chose to enlarge.

The 111th Congress: Largest number of Jewish members ever?

Many in the Jewish community note that the 110th United States Congress  has the greatest recorded number of Jewish members (in both House and Senate combined). What if it were a real possibility to make that list even larger in the next Congress? Well, according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and this article from Haaretz’s Shmuel Rosner, we may be on the cusp of doing just that.

The DCCC’s Red to Blue Program lists races that have the chance to challenge conventional wisdom and become seriously competitive.

The DCCC released its newest list of Red to Blue Qualifiers and at the top of the list is a powerhouse Jewish Democrat, Alaska (At Large) seat contender Ethan Berkowitz.

Also released were the DCCC “emerging races” list for the Red to Blue Program, which are races that have the potential to heat up soon. This list also included a number of strong Jewish Democrats:

Dennis Shulman (NJ-05)
Josh Segall (AL-03)
Annette Taddeo (FL-18)

Additionally, among the previously announced Red to Blue picks is John Adler, an impressive Jewish voice running a strong campaign in New Jersey, as well as Wyoming at large candidate Gary Trauner.

More information on the list and candidates can be found here.

Get out there and help us elect some more Jewish progressives to Congress!

A Shameful Smear

This week Senator Obama spoke movingly on Memorial Day of his Grandfather’s service during World War II, and specifically of his role in liberating victims of Auschwitz. As was pointed out, Obama was mistaken, and that it was in fact Buchenwald that he helped liberate, as Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. Obama’s campaign quickly corrected the mistake. After all, it was an honest mistake, family stories get passed down and facts might be forgotten. However, the Republican National Committee jumped at him with wild abandon, noting that his grandfather would have had to be part of the Soviet Army to be at Auschwitz, and that maybe he was in fact a Soviet Soldier. To suggest that a patriot who served faithfully in World War II in the American Armed Forces was a “red” as it were is an outrage. To impugn the dignity of the service of heroes of our greatest generation is beyond contemptible, it’s frankly offensive. Some, even worse, have pointed out that Buchenwald was merely a “work camp,” somehow less horrific than other Concentration Camps. Trying to equate any forced incarceration by the Nazis is absurd and reprehensible. To downplay the horrific nature of Buchenwald is an affront to the estimated 56,000 prisoners who died there. Most died from exhaustion and starvation, but many died of being unceremoniously executed with a shot to the back of the head. It was the temporary home of legendary Jewish author and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. Anyone who has read his numerous works knows of the pain in every word, words brought to fruition by Buchenwald. Many have suggested this outcry is pay back for criticism of Sen. McCain’s failure to distinguish between Sunni and Shia insurgents in Iraq. If so, this charade will have reached a new point of insanity. There is a big difference between fudging facts on honorable family history, and a supposed expert of foreign policy not knowing the fundamental players in the biggest foreign policy issue currently on the books. Sen. McCain and the RNC owe two things: better fact checkers and an apology.

A Note on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today marks the annual anniversary of Holocaust Remembrance Day across the globe.

The, holiday, known in Hebrew as Yom Hashoah, was established through legislation in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) to fall on the 27th of Nissan on the Hebrew calendar. The purpose of the day is to remember those 6,000,000 Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

We also remember a vow of "never again". On this day, let us remember tragedies past and work to prevent such acts in the future. On this day, it is especially important to remember America’s commitment to the State of Israel. Even today, the Jewish people and their young nation are under constant threats from those who would seek to recreate the tragedies of the past. Let us all work together to maintain the critical bipartisan alliance at home and consensus abroad to ensure that Israel’s security and her people’s prosperity is guarded without fail.

 

HEAD OF REPUBLICAN JEWS: OBAMA HAS "FINE" RECORD ON ISRAEL

Washington, D.C. - Despite months of relentless attacks on Barack Obama's commitment to Israel, Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director, Matt Brooks, admitted Saturday that Senator Obama actually has a good voting record on Israel.

As quoted in the Palm Beach Post: "Obama's voting record on issues related to Israel has been 'fine' during his three years in the Senate, Brooks says."

"For fifty years, the pro-Israel community has used voting records as the most important single arbiter of whether a candidate is considered 'pro-Israel' and as the primary predictor of future behaviors," said Ira Forman, National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) Executive Director and longtime political strategist within the Jewish community. "Even the head of the national Jewish Republicans is acknowledging that Senator Obama has a fine record. Perhaps now the conservative smear artists will be shamed into ending the mudslinging," Forman stated.

NJDC contends that both Senators Clinton and Obama are strong supporters of Israel and the special relationship which exists between our two nations. The nonpartisan organization, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which does not endorse candidates, has said, "Senators Clinton, Obama, [and] McCain [...] have demonstrated their support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship."

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