Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 4, 2008 Page: 5 of 20
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Nation
Page 5
Jewish Herald-Voice
September 4, 2008
On Mideast, McCain backers
likely to echo Bush
By RON KAMPEAS
St. PAUL, Minn.
(JTA) - Sen. John
McCain’s campaign
for U.S. president has
walked a fine line
between upholding
the values of the GOP
base that still reveres
George W. Bush,
while repudiating the
legacy of the most
unpopular president
in modern history. In
at least one area, however, there’s
no ambivalence: When it comes to
Israel and how to deal with Iran,
Republicans are happy to tout the
Arizona senator’s consistency with the
Bush presidency and his differences
with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., his
Democratic rival.
At the Republican National
Convention in St. Paul, Minn.,
McCain and his top surrogates,
including lapsed Democrat Sen. Joe
Lieberman, I-Conn., and former New
York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, can
be expected to hammer home real
policy differences between the two
parties on the Middle East:
Such differences include Bush’s
policy of continued democratization
vs. Obama’s emphasis of reaching out
to all governments; the Bush-Cheney
preference for a tough military
posture in the region vs. Obama’s
pledge to intensify engagement in
diplomacy and peacemaking.
“He recognizes Israel’s right as a
sovereign to defend herself against those
who seek to harm and destroy her,” says
the “Jewish Advisory Coalition” page
on McCain’s campaign website. The
statement appears beneath a picture of
McCain and Lieberman, wearing blue
and white yarmulkes and praying at the
Western Wall.
It’s a pitch that works with
Republican Jews and the small portion
of Jewish voters who vote strictly
on Israel preferences. Coupled with
McCain’s reputation as a relative
moderate and anxieties about Obama, a
relative unknown, the strategy appears
to have eaten into the traditional 3-1
Jewish vote in favor of Democrats.
Obama’s ratings have been stuck at 60
percent in Jewish polls.
McCain’s selection Aug. 29
of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his
running mate, however, might
reinforce charges by Democrats that
McCain’s pretensions to moderation
are unfounded. Palin, 44, and
governor for two years, is a staunch
opponent of abortion rights and gay
unions. The McCain campaign is
already casting the ticket as one of
reform: Palin has earned plaudits
for pushing through ethics reforms
in a state where Republicans have
become identified with cronyism.
“In Alaska, Governor Palin chal-
lenged a corrupt system and passed
a landmark ethics reform bill,” a
McCain campaign statement said.
“She has actually used her veto and
cut budgetary spending.” Palin is
close to the state’s small Jewish com-
munity, and as governor has visited
its synagogues. She was planning an
Israel trip prior to
s her selection.
| Still, the selection
| of a staunch con-
CO
g servative only rein-
| forces the “yes, but”
§ ambivalence of much
£ of McCain’s cam-
| paign: Yes, the Iraq
x war didn’t turn out
o well, but McCain’s
| been saying so for
g five years. Yes, the
Bush White House
exacerbated parti-
sanship, but McCain has a history of
working with Democrats.
Now, one can expect to hear: Yes,
she’s a staunch social conservative,
but McCain has, in the past, embraced
some moderate positions, for instance
on stem cell research. Among the few
relative moderates appearing at the
convention, Jews figure prominently:
Lieberman, hometown favorite
Sen. Norm Coleman, D-Minn., and
Hawaiian Gov. Linda Lingle.
The two other Jewish speakers
underscore the campaign’s emphasis
on reaching out to the community:
Rabbi Ira Flax of Birmingham,
Ala. will deliver the invocation
Wednesday night, and David Flaum,
the Republican Jewish Coalition
chairman, will speak on Thursday
night, when McCain delivers his
acceptance speech.
Jewish events at the convention
include an RJC luncheon with
Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah, as
well as events honoring pro-Israel
lawmakers, Republican governors
and a session analyzing the Jewish
vote. The American Israel Public
Affairs Committee is running the
same range of private events it ran at
the Democratic convention, honoring
lawmakers and meeting with advisors.
Even J-Street, the dovish pro-Israel
group that was a prominent presence
at Jewish events at the Democratic
convention in Denver, is holding an
event in St. Paul.
The toughest distinctions will be
on Iran. McCain can be expected
to repeat the pledge he made most
recently to a group of Chabad-
Lubavitch rabbis never to “allow
another Holocaust.”
Obama’s campaign is pitching what
it calls its “integrated” foreign policy
that incorporates diplomatic and
economic pressure with outreach; at
a Center for U.S. Global Engagement
session in Denver, Tony Lake, Obama’s
top foreign policy advisor, said
dealing with Iran’s suspected nuclear
program “is a perfect illustration of
an integrated approach because all
our options would be on the table,
economic, political and military.”
Lake said the Iranian challenge
could become the “worst crisis we
will see in the next five years” and
said Obama would deal with it as
soon as he takes office. “We have to
have a set of very serious negotiations
with the Iranians. We have to work
with other nations at increasing the
leverage.” The McCain campaign, by
contrast, debuted a TV ad last week
emphasizing Iran as a “serious threat”
that threatens to “eliminate Israel.” □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 4, 2008, newspaper, September 4, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544212/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .