46 Friday, November 1, 1985 CARS FOR RENT LOW RATES NO MILEAGE CHARGE DIRECT INSURANCE BILLING DAY—WEEK—MONTH OPEN 7 DAYS THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 00000000000000000 bruce m. weiss COLONY ° INTERIORS Jewelers 26325 Twelve Mile Rd. Southeast corner Northwestern Behind Gabe's Fruits In The Mayfair Shops 1 Sugar Tree Plaza Jewish PACs at Maple & Orchard Lk. Rd. Mon.-Sat. 10-5:30 Diana Silberstein Thurs. 10-8:30 645-5278 353-1424 BE A WINNER, PLAY THE CLASSIFIEDS $ PAC S $ Continued from preceding page 626-1999 . 8 o 000V00O00Q0004,4700 Call The Jewish News Today 354-6060 „Anniversacy Sale For 3 Days: Thursday, October 31, Friday, November 1, and Saturday, November 2. Visit us and receive your FREE gift. Our anniversary sale prices will cover all of our custom jewelry, name brand watches, fine crystal and accessories. Free gift wrapping. All sales can be exchanged or refunded. IVE11%11-1FAUID JEWELERS "SUNSET STRIP" • 29536 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield, Michigan 48034 • Phone: 313/357-4000 Hours: M-F 10am-5:45pm, Th 10am-7:45pm, Sat 10am-5pm Vote Tues., Nov. 5—Farmington Hills Council Re-Elect BEN MARKS "In the last Farmington Hills election I was elected by one vote . . . was that YOUR VOTE? I need your support again!" Paid for by Ben Marks for Farmington Hills, James Burroughs, Treas. candidates backed by National PAC won. (By comparison, only 80 percent of the candidates backed last year by 17 major PACS were victorious, according to a study by Washington, D.C. political scientist Larry Boyle.) But backing winners does not necessarily mean that your side prevais on Capitol Hill. Like the Jewish PACs, the National Association of Arab Americans PAC (NAAA PAC) also had a high proportion of winning can- didates last year — 85 percent. But neither the Arab nor the Jewish PACs can rightfully claim — solely on the basis that they gave a congressman money — that he or she will vote with them on every issue pertaining to the Mideast (especially since 29 percent of the candidates who took pro-Israel money, a won- derful example of a candidate buttering his political bread on both sides). PAC proponents repeatedly state thaty they are not "buying votes," they are buying "access." "A member of Congress will have more incentive to return phone calls from someone who gave him $10,000 than from some anonymous — and broke — farmer in his district," said the head of one Jewish PAC. The tendency of pro-Israel and pro-Arab PACs to channel a good share of their funds to the same congressmen does not necessarily mean they are engaged in a bidding war. (A war which the NAAA PAC would necessarily lose, at least for now. Its 1984 campaign con- tributions equalled less than .9 percent of total contributions from Jewish PACs.) But it does indicate that both types of PACs seek "access" to the same con- gressmen. Rep. Dante Fascell (D-Fla.), for example, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, received $23,500 from Jewish PACs and only $200 from NAAA PAC. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), who suc- ceeded Clarence Long as chair- man of the House Foreign Oper- ations Appropriations Subcom- mittee, received $5,000 from National PAC and $350 from NAAA PAC. The ledger clearly favors Jewish PACs. (Even those candidates who strike a pose of integrity by im- posing a limit on funds they will accept from PACs are not im- mune from receiving contribu- tions from both Arab and Jewish political action commit- tees. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-N.Y.), for instance, would not accept more than $2,000 from a PAC last year. She received this amount from National PAC — and also $250 from NAAA PAC.) A more amorphous way to evaluate a PAC's effectiveness is to look at what one Capitol in- sider called "the atmospherics of politics." "Much of politics is psychological," he said. "Influ- ence is a perceived reality. In the last few years, congressmen have been falling all over them- selves in their rush to vote for aid to Israel. They used to be much more critical. This is a sign that Jewish PACs are effec- tive. Congressmen know that Jews around the country can de- liver. What they deliver is cam- paign money. And money gets some to Capitol Hill. Even con- gressmen with a minuscule Jewish constituency — or no Jewish constituency — will think twice about voting against Israel." This view that Jews have new political power "has made even our enemies come around," said AIPA C's Tom Dine: "Early money, middle money and late money" produced the most pro-Israel Congress in history. ( Robert Golder of Delaware Val- ley PAC. "Even Jesse Helms has asked Jews why they tried to defeat him." PACs have also changed Jews' perception of their own power. For instance, after Jewish PACs poured almost $322,000 into Il- linois to successfully topple Sen. Charles Percy, AIPAC director Tom Dine told the Council of Jewish Federations that Percy's defeat had "defined Jewish power for the rest of the cen- tury. That win will reverber- ate." Before the days of pro-Israel PACs, Jews usually dealt only with their own congressmen. Now they study voting records, policy statements, debate tran- scripts of congressmen from thousands of miles away. Of the 32 candidates backed last year by the pro-Israel Louisianians for American Security PAC, only eight ran in Louisiana; of the 55 candidates backed by Tucson-based Desert Caucus, none came from Arizona. For many Jews, the days of precinct politics may be over. Through their PACs, they deal with an international issue — the Mid- . dle East — at a national level. With congressmen constantly pursuing them for funds and as- suring them of their allegiance to Israel, Jewish PACs — and the broader Jewish community — sense a new, invigorating clout in Washington. A few years ago, Washington humorist Mark Russell said, "PAC people say they're for good government and they're not try- ing to unduly influence anyone. But if they're not getting any, why is 'action' their middle name?"