Legal Commentary

McCain Steps Up Outreach to Jewish Democrats

By Jeralyn

John McCain is going after the Jewish vote. He's attracting some major Democratic donors, including one who gave $80,000. to the DNC in 2000. Why? Israel.

Jewish Democrats are concerned about Obama for several reasons. While stumping in Iowa last year, Obama told Democratic activists, “Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people.”

Some Jewish voters interpreted the statement as a sign that Obama would be overly sympathetic to the Palestinian side in future peace negotiations with Israel. And some are concerned about a senior Obama adviser’s comments regarding the influence of American Jews on foreign policy. Merrill “Tony” McPeak, the former Air Force chief of staff, told the Portland Oregonian newspaper in 2003 that the political influence of the Jewish community had hampered efforts to negotiate peace in the Middle East.

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Obama has also caused some alarm among Jewish Democrats by pledging to negotiate with leaders of nations that have taken hostile stances against Israel, such as Syria and Iran.

One state that will be tough for Obama if he loses its Jewish vote: Florida. McCain is hitting it big. According to one McCain fundraiser:

“In Florida there are a lot of people not happy with Obama’s stance with regards to Israel and regards to Cuba. We’re starting to see some significant people come over. “Democrats who are traditional large Democratic givers are coming over to our side."

....Jewish support is especially important in Florida, a crucial swing state where Obama trails McCain in recent polls. Jewish voters make up about 5 percent of the electorate in that state. Florida’s Jewish community is also a lucrative source of political fundraising.

McCain's fundraiser is trying to spin that Hillary supporters are going to McCain. Prominent Democrats deny it:

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in the past couple of days and I have not spoken to anybody who was supporting Hillary Clinton and who has indicated any likelihood of supporting McCain,” said Steve Grossman, a former co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a former chairman of AIPAC, who raised tens of thousands of dollars for Clinton this election cycle.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 11, 2008 (boomark / email).