Obama Working To Ensure Jewish Vote

Washington Post: Meticulous Planning For Visit To Israel Indicates Importance

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Jonathan Weisman and Michelle Boorstein.

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Before embarking on a sprawling international trip that would take him to seven countries, two continents and two war zones, Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign staff fixated on a speck on the globe that is slightly smaller than New Jersey: Israel.

For all the hype about his trip to Iraq and his speech in Berlin, it was the Israel leg that was the most sensitive and the most meticulously planned, according to sources involved with the arrangements. That fact alone is a testament to the presidential candidate's ongoing concerns about the Jewish vote this November, and the extraordinary lengths to which the senator from Illinois is going to ensure support from that traditional Democratic constituency.

Obama's position on Israel has been fairly mainstream. He has declared himself an undying ally of the Jewish state and has indicated that he would like the United States to return to a position of honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But his connection to his former pastor Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose anti-Israel sermons were widely reported this past spring, caused concern among some Jewish groups.

"I think he does still have issues with the Jewish community," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), a prominent Jewish member of Congress. "In the end, I think he's going to do as well as any Democratic nominee with the Jewish community, but people still have to feel more comfortable with him."

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.

Obama aides considered taking some Jewish lawmakers on the visit, but then thought the idea was potentially demeaning. Instead, Obama's travel mates included Dennis Ross, a prominent former Middle East peace envoy, and Eric Lynn, a former House aide, Chicago community activist and Obama's liaison to the Jewish community. There was some talk of scuttling a planned news conference, for fear that any slip would be magnified by the attention the Jewish community is paying to the visit. Obama, in the end, did talk to the media.

"There is an extraordinary amount of attention, and it's for good reason," said Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who has served as an Obama liaison to Jewish voters in and beyond Florida. "People believe Senator Obama is going to win the election and become the next president of the United States."

Rep. Paul W. Hodes (D-N.H.), another national campaign co-chairman, described meeting with a group of New England Jewish leaders in Boston on July 11 to sound out lingering concerns with Obama. He then relayed those issues to the candidate before his trip.

"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," Hodes said. "And the Jewish community is one that has a special feeling when it comes to roots."

Obama's statements and appearances yesterday were carefully choreographed to assuage such feelings. He met with an array of the Israeli political establihment -- left, right and center -- before venturing to the West Bank to sit down with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The focal point of his day was a visit to Sderot, an Israeli town on the edge of the Gaza Strip where Hamas-fired rockets have rained down for months.

Considering Obama's poll numbers, all this attention may seem like overkill. New Gallup poll data indicate that he leads Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, by 60 percent to 33 percent among Jewish voters, close to the average split of 65 to 32 percent in favor of Democrats among Jewish voters in exit polls since 1972. But that average was lowered by the 1980 election, when Jimmy Carter received just 45 percent of the Jewish vote.

In 2004, Sen. John F. Kerry won 74 percent. In 2000, Al Gore won 79 percent, about what Bill Clinton took in 1996 and 1992. If McCain wins a third of Jewish voters, that would be better than any other GOP candidate has done among the group since 1988.

Jews made up 3 percent of the electorate in 2004, but Obama aides think their vote may be key in a few swing states where the margin in November could be razor thin: Florida, where Jews make up 4 percent of the population; Nevada, where they make up 3 percent; and Ohio, where they are strong in the Cleveland suburbs. If McCain is able to put New Jersey and Pennsylvania into play, the Jewish vote could loom large there, as well.

Jonathan Sarna, a historian of American Jewry, said that Carter was the only Democrat in many decades who won the presidency -- in 1976 -- with less than 70 percent of U.S. Jews supporting him.

"It's like the canary in the mine. It's not because Jews are so important, but it's symbolic," he said.

Suzanne Kurtz, a spokeswoman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, said Obama is still having problems because some high-profile surrogates and supporters have questioned Israel's central position in U.S.-Middle Eastern policy. Robert Malley, who was a State Department official in the Clinton administration, resigned from his role as an informal Obama policy adviser after it emerged that he had met regularly with members of the militant group Hamas. Obama campaign officials have worked assiduously to distance themselves from Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was Carter's national security adviser and who is considered anti-Israel by many Jews.

"This is a very important clue to the source of skepticism and doubt," Kurtz said.

With such sensitivities in mind, Obama hewed closely to the advice Wexler and others gave him before his departure. He met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as well as opposition leader and conservative hawk Binyamin Netanyahu. He won Netanyahu's blessing as being sufficiently vigilant in the struggle to keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran's hands, Wexler said, and he made condemnation of Palestinian terrorism the central message of the day.

"We are still making our arguments," he cautioned, but after all the preparation, Jewish Obama supporters yesterday appeared satisfied that the day had gone fairly smoothly.

"I think it's an extraordinary home run," Hodes said.

[fairfield31]

We really didn''t want to read any lengthy comments from service people who apparently do not have the intelligence to realize that when candidates are traveling to "The War Zone," they have astringent agendas of movement that they must abide by. Also, what was most important during Senator Obama%u2019s trip abroad is the fact that he was welcomed in Baghdad by the Prime Minister of Iraqi, Nour al-Maliki; Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani; Iraqi government spokesman, AL al-Dabagh; Iraqi Natioanl Security Advisor, Mowafak al-Rubaie, and Afghan President, Hamid Karzai. Would your Republican candidate have received such a welcome?

How could anyone think that Obama or any sane American does not appreciate and thank the service men and women for their extraordinary service? The negative overtones are quite obvious in the message of Obama''s not stopping to talk during his visit to "The War Zone." Your dislike for Senator Obama came through quite clear. Just as the resentment of Obama being an "Ivy League Lawyer" from another commentator. We never hear that term used in reference to white graduates from so-called Ivy League institutions, so why with Obama?

[piercetheval]

...I couldn''t get the entire letter from Afghanistan to print as it was too lengthy, but I think you get the message. It is from a Captain in the Army in Afghanistan.

[piercetheval]

"Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person, I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to "The War Zone". I wanted to share with you what happened.
He got off the plane and got right into a bulletproof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General [2 star] who is the commander here at Bagram.
As the soldiers were lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn''t say a word as he went into the conference room tio meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell [pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights] so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to soldiers to thank them for their service.
So really he was just here to make a showing for the Americans back home the he is their candidate for Pesident. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come alll the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.
I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the DEallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one ot the Senators, who wants to be the President ot the United States. I just don''t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander in Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country."

[dante805]

Obama is an IVY league lawyer. Why vote for a flip flopping lawyer:
After vowing to eschew private fundraising and take public financing, he has now refused public money.

Once he threatened to filibuster a bill to protect telephone companies from liability for their cooperation with national security wiretaps; now he has voted for the legislation.

Turning his back on a lifetime of support for gun control, he now recognizes a Second Amendment right to bear arms in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.

Formerly, he told the Israeli lobby that he favored an undivided Jerusalem. Now he says he didn''t mean it.

From a 100 percent pro-choice position, he now has migrated to expressing doubts about allowing partial-birth abortions.

For the first time, he now speaks highly of using church-based institutions to deliver public services to the poor.

Having based his entire campaign on withdrawal from Iraq, he now pledges to consult with the military first.

During the primary, he backed merit pay for teachers -- but before the union a few weeks ago, he opposed it.

After specifically saying in the primaries that he disagreed with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton''s (D-N.Y.) proposal to impose Social Security taxes on income over $200,000 and wanted to tax all income, he has now adopted the Clinton position.

[dnsallday]

and McCain is the fact-filled article buried inside that makes you glad you did."

Posted by Ariel133 at 02:14 PM : Jul 24, 2008
************************************************************ This wasn''t written correctly.
McCain is actually the fact-challenged candidate, that counts on the media to hide and cover up for his lack of knowledge.

[dnsallday]

Ariel133....Have you ever had any original thoughts or is every single comment you post copy and paste?

Would you consider yourself to be representative of a McCain supporter or can I assume that some of them think for themselves?

[dnsallday]

I guess that''''s why progressives never get anywhere.

Posted by GreatDriveW
********************************************************* If progressives didn''t get anywhere, you would not be able to post freely on blogs.

[dnsallday]

even worse, a politician. If his lips are moving he''''s lying.

Posted by maxify55 at 08:14 AM : Jul 25, 2008
************************************************************ Who are you planning to vote for Maxify55?

[juwboy]

GreatDriveW said:

"... he`s pandering to neo-cons ..."

Based on this article he`s pandering to liberals i.e. Democrats.

[greatdrivew]

I liked Obama better when he was pandering to progressives. Now that he''s pandering to neo-cons he looks more like Bush every day. The funny thing is progressives appear ready and willing to vote for him. I guess that''s why progressives never get anywhere.

[ragnar30066]

I''ve heard that Obama offended some worshippers by showing up at the Wailing Wall right after dawn for a media op, festooned with campaign posters.

He needs to realize that other people don''t worship the same way that he and Jeremiah Wright do.

[oneamerican_]

"We''ve become a country that continually chooses the sizzle over the steak. McCain may not be as "popular" but he gets my admiration and vote for offering substance and new ideas when he speaks. Obama, meanwhile, is like the rock star who''''s realized that he can just scream unintelligible words into the microphone between songs, and the entire stadium will still scream. When your fans already love you, there''s no reason to risk it by offering anything that might be controversial. Remember the Dixie Chicks?

As candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain are ironically a lot like the way the media treats them: Obama is the glitzy magazine cover that screams for people to buy the issue, and McCain is the fact-filled article buried inside that makes you glad you did."

Posted by Ariel133 at 02:14 PM : Jul 24, 2008


Great post!

It is sad, but it is true. Too many Americans fall for the razzledazzle.

God help us.

[ariel133]

We''ve become a country that continually chooses the sizzle over the steak. McCain may not be as "popular" but he gets my admiration and vote for offering substance and new ideas when he speaks. Obama, meanwhile, is like the rock star who''s realized that he can just scream unintelligible words into the microphone between songs, and the entire stadium will still scream. When your fans already love you, there''''s no reason to risk it by offering anything that might be controversial. Remember the Dixie Chicks?

As candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain are ironically a lot like the way the media treats them: Obama is the glitzy magazine cover that screams for people to buy the issue, and McCain is the fact-filled article buried inside that makes you glad you did.

[realpatriot1]

Ariel133,

He praised the troops, not the strategy. He admitted that the awakening was something he hadn''t counted on and neither did those who supported the surge.

Conservatives want to take all the credit for progress in Iraq while giving none to the Iraqi peole themselves for waking up to what the Jihadists were up to. McCain shot himself in the foot the other day when he was caught misrepresenting the fact that the Awakening happened before the surge and the Jihadists were already in decline at that point because the Sunni tribal leaders were disassociating themselves from them.

The Awakening proved what Democrats have been saying all along about Iraq and what''s true about any guerilla war...you have to win the hearts and the minds of the people in order to succeed! The Surge helped to do that and so did the Iraqi people!

Also, if you''re going to say that Obama was wrong about the surge in 2007 then you should acknowledge that mcCain was just as wrong about the propsed surge suggested by General Shinseki prior to the invasion.

[ariel133]

The sad reality of this trip is that Sen. Obama has now left Iraq more cemented in his ill-advised positions than ever before. He was willing to throw scraps to commanders and troops (%u201Cgood job, guys%u201D) but sought every opportunity to confirm that his policy views - which are as outdated as cassette tapes - had not changed.

The next question, then, is: Who will fact-check the fact-finder? Sen. Obama managed to praise the surge (which he fervently opposed), all the while calling for timelines, degrading Iraqi leaders, and pretending that al-Qaeda in Iraq doesn%u2019t exist. "

HIS HEAD IS MORE THAN IN THE SAND, IT IS EMPTY LIKE HIS SUIT.

[ariel133]

Obama has been making a mock of his race.

Think about this:
If Obama didn''t win the primary would he still tell Reverend Wright to go away?

I am appalled with those who do not see reality- it is very difficult to understand others who dwell in the hypocrisy and ignore Obama''s inexperiance.

Honestly, the media will look like a bunch fools when this is over, * when MCCAIN wins.

It still won''t feel any less disappointing in the world when journalism was suppose to have had better standards.