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
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 commentHey 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
A Jewish senator, another Jewish senator
October 29, 2006 at 10:22 pm | Posted in political parties | Leave a comment(Ha’Aretz) Benjamin Cardin’s campaign started at Rockville’s Bnai Israel synagogue, not far from home. Cardin, known as Ben, arrived there about a week ago to seek the votes he would have received anyway. . . .
There are twenty Jewish candidates in these elections, and only two of them are Republicans. One, in a particularly interesting Minnesota race, will apparently lose to the first Muslim Congressman. And many Jewish leaders support the Muslim, Keith Ellison, who has promised to visit Israel after he is elected.
Read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?
Democrats Say Iraq War Hurt Israel, Hampered Effort to Confront Iran
October 29, 2006 at 2:33 pm | Posted in Israel, political parties | Leave a comment(Forward) Democrats in Congress are arguing that the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq harmed Israel and is tying America’s hands in dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat.
They put forth the argument in an October 27 online town hall meeting dealing with issues relating to Israel.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stressed in the online discussion that “the war in Iraq has made both America and Israel less safe.” Rep. Alcee Hastings, the Florida Democrat who is a candidate to chair the House Intelligence Committee if the Democrats win Congress, argued that “Republican foreign policy strategy in Iraq has encouraged terrorist acts against Israel, and has made other nations less likely to cooperate with U.S. policies in the region.”
Read more at http://www.forward.com/articles/democrats-say-iraq-war-hurt-israel-hampered-effor/
House Dems Holding Online Town Hall On Israel At Noon
October 27, 2006 at 12:05 pm | Posted in Israel, political parties | Leave a comment(Forward) Here’s the Info:
WHO: House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) Congressman Gene Green (D-TX) Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY) Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
WHAT: Democratic Online Town Hall on Israel
WHEN: Friday, October 27 at Noon EST
WHERE: The Democratic Caucus Online Town Hall Web site http://demcaucus.townhall.house.gov/
U.S. lawmaker chides Carter on ‘apartheid’
October 25, 2006 at 9:03 pm | Posted in Israel, political parties | Leave a comment(JTA) A leading U.S. black congressman called former President Carter to chide him for titling his new book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the use of apartheid in the title “does not serve the cause of peace and the use of it against the Jewish people in particular, who have been victims of the worst kind of discrimination, discrimination resulting in death, is offensive and wrong.”
In his statement Tuesday, Conyers said he called Carter “to express my concerns about the title of the book, and to request that the title be changed. President Carter does not build upon his career as a proponent of peace in the Middle East with this comparison and I hope he and his publisher will reconsider this decision.”
Conyers, a 20-term representative, is a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Carter’s book is due to be published next month by Simon and Schuster.
AIPAC condemns Republicans for ‘loyalty’ jibe
October 25, 2006 at 9:00 pm | Posted in political parties | Leave a comment(JTA) The American Israel Public Affairs Committee condemned Republican activists who said failure to support their candidate amounted to “disloyalty” to Israel.
Jonathan and Irit Tratt earned boos and walkouts at an event last week in Scottsdale, Ariz., when they spoke on behalf of U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is fighting a tough challenge from Democrat Harry Mitchell, the mayor of Tempe.
The Tratts faced questions about Hayworth’s endorsement of the late Henry Ford’s writings on “Americanization” of immigrants, which included anti-Semitic passages.
According to news accounts, Jonathan Tratt told the audience that because Hayworth was a steadfast Israel supporter, such questions showed “disloyalty” to the Jewish state.
He also said Hayworth, a regular churchgoer, was a “more observant Jew” than those in attendance because he opposed abortion.
As audience members walked out in disgust, Irit Tratt reportedly remarked “no wonder there are anti-Semites.”
Speaking on behalf of AIPAC, board member and Phoenix resident Gene Schupak said the organization “unequivocally condemns the Tratts’ statements. Their actions were repugnant and they in no way speak for or represent the views of our organization.”
AJC Report: Young Jews Even More Democratic
October 23, 2006 at 11:19 pm | Posted in Identity, political parties | Leave a commentFrom the AJC Report:
Longitudinal General Social Survey data dispel the contention that there has been a rightward drift in Jewish political attitudes and values (Smith, 2005). In fact, a close perusal of the data reveals that, in areas where Jewish attitudes have not held steady over the course of the past thirty years, they have actually grown more liberal. For example, a decreasing proportion of Jews believe that premarital sex and homosexual sex is “always wrong,” and an increasing proportion believe in the “right to commit suicide if a person has an incurable disease.” Regarding sex roles, there has been a substantial increase in the percentage of Jewish respondents who disagree with the statement “a wife should first help a husband’s career” (from 62 percent during 1972-80, to 70 percent during 1981-90, to 88 percent during 1991-2002).
Jewish students also appear to be more politically liberal than other students, and correspondingly espouse more progressive attitudes regarding sex, drugs, abortion, gender roles, and homosexuality. This corresponds with Greenberg’s finding that Gen Y, overall, is more likely to call itself liberal than older generations. Sax (2002) found that political orientation was one of the variables that maximally distinguished between the Jewish and non-Jewish students— 51 percent of Jews as compared to 25 percent of non-Jews identify themselves as “liberal.”
Read the whole report at http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/{42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF}/YoungJewishAdultsUS_102006.pdf
Jewish Caucus Enters the Fray
October 19, 2006 at 1:05 am | Posted in Announcements, political parties | Leave a commentToday, the board of the YDA Jewish Caucus approved an advertisement
that will be run in the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia with the
support of a number of local community members. Because we believe
that the message of this ad is critically important, we would love to
spread the advertisement to people outside of the Philadelphia
market. Please take a moment to look at the ad and help us spread
the message by sending it around to people you think might be
interested.
Also, if you know of anyone that would be willing to help fund an
advertisement in your local Jewish newspaper, please feel free to ask
them about it and get in contact with me as soon as possible. My
phone number is 484-557-4594 and my email is josh@joshpasek.com.
Most weekly Jewish newspapers need 4-5 days as turnaround, so we need
to do this almost immediately
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