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Friday, August 31, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
THE JEWISH NEWS
Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community
with distinction for four decades.
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CAPITOL REPORT
Is Jewish voting pendulum
swinging to Republican side?
BY WOLF BLITZER
The Jewish News Washington Correspondent
Washington — American Jews
are probably going to vote in record
numbers this year for the Republican
Presidential ticket of Ronald Reagan
and George Bush.
The Democrats are likely to still
win
a
majority ofJewish voters in the
PRODUCTION:
November
contest, but the margin
Donald Cheshure
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
will be very narrow. Some are al-
Cathy Ciccone
Lauri Biafore
Curtis Deloye
Rick Nessel
ready predicting a 50-50 split. There
Ralph Orme
Danny Raskin
•
are many reasons why.
Seymour Schwartz
The, Democratic challengers,
© 1964 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520)
Walter Mondale and Geraldine Fer-
Second Class postage paid at Southlaid, lAidepart and additional insane dikes. Subscription 916 a year.
raro, while both well-known and out-
spoken supporters of Israel, will
VOL.
LXXXVI,
NO.
1
CANDLELIGHTING AT 7:50 P.M.
carry an enormous amount of excess
baggage, largely — but not exclu-
sively — resulting from the acrimony
surnIunding Jesse Jackson's unsuc-
cessful Presidential bid.
Jackson's highly publicized
Anti-anti-Semitism seems to have a singular attraction for the two chief
comments about Israel, Jews and the
competitors for the Oval Office this year. The day after the Democratic
PLO as well as his association with
National Convention closed last month, the Democratic National Committee
Black Muslim leader Louis Far-
adopted a resolution disassociating the party from all people who promote
rakhan have understandably upset
"hatred, bigotry, racism and anti-Semitism." Walter Mondale, who was
many Jews and other Americans
present at the committee meeting, fully endorsed the resolution, as would any
around the country. His most recent
sensible politician. Who in their right mind would oppose a statement
olive branch to the Jewish commu-
opposing bigots, racists and anti-Semites?
nity, contained in his rousing ad-
And after meeting with a group of Jewish women last week, Ronald
dress before the Democratic conven-
Reagan came out forthrightly against anti-Semitism. No pussyfooting
tion in San Francisco, is unlikely to
around for him. This is a President who knows that America is no place for
mend many fences.
people with little tolerance for each other.
But there are other reasons why
All these high-powered attacks against narrow-mindedness and
many Jews will now abandon the
prejudice are certainly welcome. They are certainly strange, too. There was a
Democratic Party, which has been
time, not that long ago, when it was given that our mainstream politicians
the recipient of traditional Jewish
would not brook anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism, they knew, was an
political and financial support since
anathema. It also seemed on the wane. It did not have the respectability it
the days of the late President
once did. An anti-Semitic remark at a cocktail party would more often be met
Franklin Roosevelt.
with censure than accord. Jews were no longer barred from private clubs.
Jews have prospered in the
They were no longer restricted from the "better" neighborhoods. They could
United
States over the years, and
enter the best of our private schools and universities.
many have come to feel rather con-
But this has not been a year of "normalcy," to borrow Warren Gamaliel
fortable with the economic policies
Harding's wonderful malapropism. We have witnessaa Presidential contest
and business orientation of the Re-
in which the ugly head of anti-Semitism has reared itself. It will be a relief
publican
Party.
when we return to normalcy, to a time when those vying for the highest office
Jews,
moreover, have moved up
in the land do not have to attack the cancer of anti-Semitism because, as
the ladder of the Republccan Party.
before, it is moribund, in remission, and of little consequence.
Some are among its most active fund
raisers. Thus, it is no coincidence
that four of the eight Jewish U.S.
Senators are Republicans.
While U.S. support for Israel is a
•
Politicians of both parties, in the weeks and days prior to the national
conventions, simply laughed up their sleeves every time mention was made of
platforms.
Now that the Presidential nominating sessions are ever, there is a
measure of frankness in the admissions that platforms were meaningless,
that candidates for important offices were dominated only by the demands for
priorities from their constituents.
Therefore, whatever the pressures from the voters, they will have to
predominate on the local levels, in the battle that will now ensue for control of
the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
While there are differing approaches on foreign issues in the Democratic
and Republican platforms, on one important matter there is unanimity.
Adherence to the traditional U.S.-Israel friendship has become an obligation,
and it has been cheered at the national political conventions. This remains a
most heartening factor and there is cause for Israel and Diaspora Jewry to
feel elated that the role of the most democratic nation in the entire Middle
East is not being ignored.
Nevertheless, there are obstacles to be hurdled and a measure of
animosity against Israel, tinged with anti-Semitism, can not be overlooked.
The fact remains that there is always the need for vigilance, that no one
dares sink into indifference in the serious task of keeping voters informed
about the importance of both retaining and strengthening the
cooperativeness between Israel and the United States. Candidates for
important national positions, both the Presidency and Congress, must ever be
alerted to this responsibility. Retention of the desired vigilance is what will
build indestructible platforms.
Anti-anti-Semitism
Dismantling platforms
very important issue for most Jewish
voters, it is by no means the only item
on their agenda. The state of the
domestic economy and world peace as
well as the positions on all sorts of
social issues will weigh very heavily
on their minds.
Indeed, for a large number of
Jews, according to polls taken over
the years, these matters are even
more important than Israel.
Despite the record budget deficit
during the Reagan Administration,
inflation has been largely wiped out
and unemployment has been dramat-
ically cut in the past year. The dollar
is very strong. This will encourage
There is a very clear-cut
difference on basic foreign
and defense policy
emerging between the
Republican and
Democratic tickets.
many Jews to vote for the President's
re-election.
The high-profile taken by San
Francisco's very large and active
homosexual community during the
convention will no doubt turn many
Americans off to the Democratic
Party.
The Democrats may complain
about Reagan's record toward Israel
during his first term of office and the
prospects of strong and unhindered
pressure against Israel during a sec-
ond Administration. But the Repub-
licans will be able to point to numer-
ous statements in recent weeki3 by
Israeli leaders noting that U.S.-
Israeli relations today are better
than ever before.
The Republicans will also be
able to raise all sorts of questions
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