Obama '08?

Jewish leaders fight back on Obama smears

The anonymous anti-Obama e-mail campaign has been particularly viral in Jewish political circles (one of the ones accusing him of being some sort of Manchurian candidate was actually translated into Hebrew), and a broad group of prominent Jewish leaders just put out an open letter pushing back:

January 15, 2008

An Open Letter to the Jewish Community:

As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama's religious beliefs and who he is as a person.

These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates.

Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy. Jewish voters, like all voters, should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We urge everyone to make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, and nothing less.

Sincerely,

William Daroff, Vice President, United Jewish Communities

Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League

Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress

David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee

Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Phyllis Snyder, President, National Council of Jewish Women

Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
link

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That's a good one to see, since there's been some recent concern about Obama's support among Jews.

This is a good summary of Obama's record/experience thus far:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfwiTMvbxKZec4z-ouww5y_5zfhgD8U753I80

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That's the first I've heard that the american jewish community is being targetted for transmission of this smear. I suppose we've known the ugliness is going to come in dumptruck loads over the next while but it is still startling to see the instances of it.

At least Abe Foxman got something right this time.

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Patrick Leahy's endorsing Obama!

Conference call (with Obama, Leahy, and David Plouffe) happening now-ish, no quotes yet.

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January 17, 2008
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0108/Leahy_for_Obama.html

Leahy for Obama

Two sources familiar with the senior Vermont senator's plans say Patrick Leahy will be endorsing Obama today in an 11:00 a.m. conference call today.

Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, wouldn't confirm the senator's plans, but did suggest a reporter pay attention to the call, which the Obama campaign is touting as a "major endorsement."

If Leahy endorses as expected, it would be the lastest in a string of Senate validations for Obama, and to the extent that endorsements play a role in voters' decisions, Leahy's -- along with those of Senator John Kerry and others -- could counterbalance charges that the Illinois senator lacks readiness or establishment credibility. Like Kerry, he's also a liberal stalwart and a veteran of battles with the Bush Administration.

UPDATE: "We need a president who can reintroduce America to the world - and actually reintroduce America to ourselves," Leahy said in the conference call, saying Obama carried the "hope" to end the war in Iraq and to bring "healthcare for all."

He also compared the decision to support Obama to supporting John F. Kennedy for president.

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http://bourbonroom.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/17/sen-patrick-leahy-d-vt-to-endorse-obama/

January 17th, 2008 10:44 AM Eastern
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to Endorse Obama
by Major Garrett
The Bourbon Room has learned from top Democratic sources that six-term U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a staunch defender of President Bill Clinton during the GOP-led impeachment, will endorse Barack Obama for president during an 11 a.m. EST conference call.

Leahy will appear on the conference call with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

Leahy is the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also led the fight against GOP efforts to delay and some cases deny confirmation of Clinton-nominated federal judges during the final two years of the Clinton presidency.

Leahy also opposed the Iraq war resolution and has been at the forefront of Democratic criticism of President Bush's detention policies for enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Bush "terrorist surveillance" program.

Leahy also helped negotiate the first Patriot Act and was instrumental in reauthorizing the law with changes that reduced the federal government's power to search library and personal records of American citizens implicated but not charged in terrorist investigations.

Elected in 1974, Leahy is Vermont's longest serving senator and was among te first in the Senate to have an official website (launched in 1995) and in 2003 was the first senator to launch a personal blog "More from the floor."

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More evidence that elements of the Democratic Party want to abandon the Clinton ship, and probably have for a long time. All they need is a boat that looks seaworthy, and Obama may increasingly give them the impression he has one.

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Thanks for the quote, first one I've seen. (Google News is good but lags sometimes...)

That's a nice endorsement, and is adding up to quite a trend (major endorsements post-NH).

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http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/leahy-endorses-obama-2008-01-17.html

Leahy endorses Obama
By Aaron Blake
Posted: 01/17/08 11:22 AM [ET]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in his fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"I believe many people around the world have lost respect for America," Leahy said in a conference call. "We need a president who can re-introduce America to the world and to ourselves."

Obama has notched a slew of endorsements since finishing a disappointing second in the New Hampshire primary, including 2004 Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), and Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

Leahy said his endorsement is not against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) or former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).

"I'm looking at who can do this best, and I believe that Barack Obama can," Leahy said.

Leahy's backing shows that Obama can compete when it comes to Democratic heavyweights in Congress. The Vermont senator, who is in his sixth term, is one of the senior Democrats in the Senate and well respected among his peers.

In addition, in his role as Judiciary Committee chairman, Leahy has been in the spotlight as a main critic of the Bush administration on issues such as warrantless wiretapping and torture. He also was among the Democrats who led the charge against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

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FreeDuck wrote:

I keep thinking there was a chance to respond to the MLK comment in a way that would make the right point. What if Obama had said something like "thanks to the work of MLK and LBJ we no longer have to choose between an inspirational leader and a president -- MLK couldn't run for president, but I can." Her comment was meant to draw a parallel with Obama as MLK and her as LBJ, but that was a different time. Couldn't MLK have done just as much if not more if he was president?

My take on her comment, was "How dare you, after all WE'VE done for you", rather condescending and "cheeky", when SHE and her husband did more to hurt Blacks, like "ending welfare as we know it", when HE was a direct beneficiary! I saw a CBS report on poverty in Mississippi years back. A poor white woman was asked why she didn't think Blacks were entitled to welfare and her answer was, "they ought to work for it", but it was okay, her being white, that she was already receiving it! Touche! Her comments bordered on racist, even though I know she isn't one, but she is a bigot, a big difference.
Rolling Eyes

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sozobe wrote:

That's a good one to see, since there's been some recent concern about Obama's support among Jews.

Pity that they left it at that somewhat nebulous "emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama's religious beliefs and who he is as a person". Why not just write, "emails that falsely assert that Senator Barack Obama is Muslim. He is not, he is a Christian."?

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There have been a few other emails going around that were aimed at the Jewish community. One of the latest took quotes from a Richard Cohen column that was about Obama's church minister and his daughter's publication called Trumpet Newsmagazine stating that since that magazine gave Farrakhan one of its annual awards and Obama attended that church, it must mean that Obama is also anti-semitic and not to be trusted.

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There are odd undercurrents at work in the jewish community in the US. Eric Alterman, Josh Marshall, Matt Yglesisas, Ezra Klein and a bunch of others (all themselves of the community) have written on it quite a bit. One factor is the tendency of the leaders of various groups (such as some of those who are signatory in the letter) to be considerably further right than the broad jewish community. Foxman, for example, has been under quite a lot of attention and criticism from these young turks.

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Rush Limbaugh...mister subtle

Quote:

Limbaugh twice used word "spade" during discussion of Obama

Summary: One week after claiming that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's suggestion that Sen. Barack Obama "has not done the kind of spadework" that Clinton has done was "not coincidental," Rush Limbaugh returned to the subject on his January 14 show. While discussing Obama, Limbaugh twice used the word "spade," which can be used as a racial slur. Specifically, Limbaugh said that "Obama is holding his own against both of them [Bill and Hillary Clinton], doing more than his share of the 'spadework,' maybe even gaining ground at the moment, using not only the spade, ladies and gentlemen. But when he finishes with the spade in the garden of corruption planted by the Clintons, he turns to the hoe. And so the spadework and his expertise, using a hoe. He's faring well." "Spadework" is a common term among political figures and the media.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200801150021?f=h_side

Of course, if he gets much attention on this one, he'll blame it on guess who.

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Some of the discussion I've seen has been less about the relative right-ness (politically) of the older generation, than the relative racism. I have a whole book about this somewhere, "Fractured Alliance" I think it's called, about how Jews and black people came together (in large part, not totally) during the civil rights movement but then really moved apart in the last few decades.

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Found it (the physical book, not online), it's "Broken Alliance" by Jonathan Kaufman, published in 1988. Subtitled "The Turbulent Times of Blacks and Jews in America."

Back cover blurb:

Quote:

During the civil rights struggles of the 1950's and early 1960's, American blacks and Jews worked closely together. Beginning with the rise of the Black Power militancy, however, and continuing to today [1988], their relationship has been marred by growing disharmony and even open hostility. This book by a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter, covering over thirty years and told through the vivid personal histories of Jews and blacks in the movement, shows how and why this change occurred -- and what it means for us as we face the future.

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soz

that's a relationship, historical and contemporary, which I'm not educated regarding.

But there is, of course, also the relationship between the modern right and the Likud supporters portion of the american jewish community. The neoconservative folks form a central part of this, and then there's our buddy below.

Here's a bit from Josh Marshall. Note Josh's title.

Quote:

Joe: GOP Good for the Jews

From the Miami Herald ...

Quote:
Joe Lieberman, the one-time Democrat who narrowly lost the vice presidency, stumped in South Florida for a Republican presidential candidate this evening, putting his former party on alert: The GOP is after the Jewish vote.
Lieberman told about 200 Republican Jewish activists that he's backing John McCain because his fellow senator and Iraq war hawk best understands the nature of the radical Islamic threat faced by ''our ally Israel'' -- while much of the Democratic Party has forsaken it.

''The Democratic Party, I believe, respectfully, has left the strongest roots of its foreign policy and national security,'' Lieberman said, adding that McCain ``has always believed that Israel is our natural ally, from the beginning of its modern existence to this day in the war against Islamic extremists and terrorists.''

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Interesting, Donna Brazile is a major component of this book -- the author talks with 7 people (black and Jewish) as a framework for the book, and Brazile is one of them.

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sozobe wrote:

Interesting, Donna Brazile is a major component of this book -- the author talks with 7 people (black and Jewish) as a framework for the book, and Brazile is one of them.

It would be nice if she could come on TV and spout something other then empty and vapid platitudes. I don't have a lot of respect for her.

Cycloptichorn

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I only knew her as Gore's campaign manager, then happened to see live the comments about Bill's "fairytale" speech that became a big deal. (I very rarely watch TV coverage.) All of the commentary by her that I saw was pretty platitude-less and seemed pretty brave to me.

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