Whose polls are right? RJC sees Jewish GOP increases; others say Jews remain overwhelmingly Democratic

November 17, 2006 at 2:50 am | Posted in political parties | Leave a comment

(Washington Jewish Week) Did the massive and controversial Republican Jewish Coalition advertising campaign work?

Not according to national exit polls.

American Jews last week voted even more overwhelmingly Democratic than in previous congressional races, according to those surveys. But the RJC is arguing that its own Election Day poll showed Jewish support for the GOP holding steady from previous years despite a strong Democratic tide, and that its ads did make an impact on the Jewish electorate.

Read more at http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=6253&TM=34896.11

Jewish Women on Rise in Congress – From the Jerusalem Post

November 12, 2006 at 12:06 am | Posted in Announcements + Events | Leave a comment

Why are there so many women in the congressional Jewish caucus?

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) cuts to the chase. It’s the Jewish-mother factor, she says: They get things done.

“Is it surprising that a Jewish mother would be in the U.S. Congress?” Schakowsky asks with a laugh. “We know how to do things. We state our minds. Often we come from educated and successful backgrounds.”

Jewish women outpace their non-Jewish counterparts in the Congress, both in terms of the relative Jewish population in the United States – about 2 percent – and in terms of the male-to-female ratio in Congress.

Women hold 67 of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives, or about 15 percent. Of the 26-member Jewish contingent, seven are women, more than 25 percent.

They are Schakowsky; Susan Davis (D-Calif.); Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.); Jane Harman (D-Calif.); Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.); and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.).
Continue Reading Jewish Women on Rise in Congress – From the Jerusalem Post…

JTA Election Update

November 8, 2006 at 11:14 am | Posted in Announcements + Events | Leave a comment

(JTA) Jews increased their numbers by two in the U.S. Senate and at least four in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who was backed by the Democrats, won Vermont´s Senate seat. U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin, also a Democrat, was projected to win Maryland´s seat. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an Independent in Connecticut who has pledged to vote with the Democratic caucus, also won. Another two Jewish incumbent senators are up for re-election this year and were projected to win: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) The wins would raise Jewish representation in the Senate to 13, the most Jews that body has had. There were 26 Jews in the House in the last Congress. Six Jewish Democrats — in Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arizona, Kentucky and New Hampshire — were projected to win freshman bids. That means at least 30 Jews will serve in the House in the next Congress, with Cardin and Sanders ascending to the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman defeated Ned Lamont, the cable TV magnate who used anti-Iraq war sentiment to best Lieberman in the Democratic primary. Lieberman, who backed the Iraq war, ran as an independent but pledged to vote with the Democratic caucus. Exit polls suggested Lieberman, the first Jew to feature on a viable presidential ticket in 2000, garnered 60 percent of the Jewish vote and Lamont garnered 40 percent. Lieberman had drawn significant pro-Israel funds and Jews from around the region went to Connecticut to help get out the vote.
Continue Reading JTA Election Update…

If not now . . . (Jewish Caucus Election Message)

November 6, 2006 at 1:34 pm | Posted in Church and State, Civil Rights, Events, Israel, political parties | Leave a comment

Hey everybody,

It’s that time of year again. Tomorrow, we get another chance to shape the future of our great nation. In the past 6 years, we have experienced some of the worst times in our nation’s history. Not only have we seen record deficits and been exposed to a culture of fear, but we have watched the erosion of our most fundamental rights. As Jews, we know first hand the importance of respecting the legal and political safeguards on executive power and we understand why the separation of church and state is at the core of what it means to be American. It is our responsibility to exercise another of our critical rights, in order to protect the rest of them.

By voting tomorrow, you have a chance to stand up and say that civil liberties are important, that America is not a fundamentally “Christian Nation,” but a pluralistic one, and that our country needs a new direction. Though the last six years have been ample evidence for why we need a change, Republican’s continue to pile on the reasons. For the latest winner, I would like to refer you to Republican Representative and US Senate Candidate Katherine Harris who prayed to “bring the hearts and minds of our Jewish brothers and sisters into alignment.”

Listen to the full prayer at http://www.stanford.edu/~jpasek/HarrisPrayer.mp3, and if anyone asks you why Jews vote Democratic, just point them this way.

But whatever you do, don’t forget that everything comes down to turnout. Even if 90% of Americans know in their hearts and in their heads that we are staying the wrong course in Iraq and at home, we can only change things if we get people to the polls. Elections are sometimes decided by 1 vote, and making sure that you vote and that all of your friends vote is the most important thing you can do.

Here’s to real change in 2006,

Josh Pasek
Chair, YDAJC

Harris’ Prayer Call Stirs Concerns

November 5, 2006 at 6:54 pm | Posted in Church and State, political parties | Leave a comment

(Tampa Tribune) U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who has made past comments that raised questions about her religious sensitivity, prayed in a telephone prayer service recently that God would “bring the hearts and minds of our Jewish brothers and sisters into alignment.”

A Harris spokeswoman said Friday that the Longboat Key Republican, who has advocated electing Christian officeholders, was talking about converting Jews to vote Republican, not to Christianity.

Read more at http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBNSMYJ3UE.html

Listen to the Prayer at http://www.stanford.edu/~jpasek/HarrisPrayer.mp3

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