14 May 2004
Jewish Vote Issues
Is the U.S. Jewish vote really tied to a single issue? John Kerry’s campaign seems to think so. That’s the conclusion I draw from his support for the declared policy of Mr. Sharon’s government of Israel to retain and defend certain Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.
The endorsement of that policy by George Bush also caters to his fundamentalist Christian constituency. In fact, it may be the most important reason for the Bush reelection campaign to show solidarity with Sharon. He wants to solidify the allegiance of the new “Crusaders” who appear to have adopted Israel as their surrogate in face of the perceived Arab threat to the Holy Land. When asked in a television news interview the other day why she supported Bush, in light of her loss of support for the occupation of Iraq, a woman answered “I guess because he’s a Christian.”
Kerry’s campaign probably has won serious support from Jewish-American financial backers and opinion leaders who are reputedly sympathetic to hard-line Israeli survivalists. Nevertheless, he should try to multiply and disaggregate issues that are important to this thoughtful and influential crowd. Each of them is equally concerned about one or more of the following:
• Abortion rights
• Medical care for the aged
• Competing in an increasingly globalized world
• Fiscal responsibility towards future generations (i.e., taxes and deficits)
• Environmental stewardship
• Alternate sources of energy.
Surely these and other issues allow room for the Kerry Campaign to win support among those who some simplistically categorize into Jewish and Christian fundamentalist voting blocks. That strategy would corroborate the professed desire of John Kerry that the national political debate have greater intellectual texture, and not be reduced to the sloganeering that bedecks the massive stage backdrops to Mr. Bush’s campaign appearances.
Is the U.S. Jewish vote really tied to a single issue? John Kerry’s campaign seems to think so. That’s the conclusion I draw from his support for the declared policy of Mr. Sharon’s government of Israel to retain and defend certain Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.
The endorsement of that policy by George Bush also caters to his fundamentalist Christian constituency. In fact, it may be the most important reason for the Bush reelection campaign to show solidarity with Sharon. He wants to solidify the allegiance of the new “Crusaders” who appear to have adopted Israel as their surrogate in face of the perceived Arab threat to the Holy Land. When asked in a television news interview the other day why she supported Bush, in light of her loss of support for the occupation of Iraq, a woman answered “I guess because he’s a Christian.”
Kerry’s campaign probably has won serious support from Jewish-American financial backers and opinion leaders who are reputedly sympathetic to hard-line Israeli survivalists. Nevertheless, he should try to multiply and disaggregate issues that are important to this thoughtful and influential crowd. Each of them is equally concerned about one or more of the following:
• Abortion rights
• Medical care for the aged
• Competing in an increasingly globalized world
• Fiscal responsibility towards future generations (i.e., taxes and deficits)
• Environmental stewardship
• Alternate sources of energy.
Surely these and other issues allow room for the Kerry Campaign to win support among those who some simplistically categorize into Jewish and Christian fundamentalist voting blocks. That strategy would corroborate the professed desire of John Kerry that the national political debate have greater intellectual texture, and not be reduced to the sloganeering that bedecks the massive stage backdrops to Mr. Bush’s campaign appearances.
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