POLITICS
Om'
0•1
With Cuomo Sitting Out,
Jewish Money Is Loose
T
he decision by New
York Governor. Mario
Cuomo to sit out this
year's presidential contest
may shake up a Jewish polit-
•-
ical establishment that so
far has largely sat out the
l' early rounds of the 1992
presidential sweepstakes.
"A lot of New York money
— which, coincidentally, is
Jewish money —was holding
back, waiting for Cuomo's
decision," said Mark Seigel,
a leading political consul-
tant in Washington.
"So were a lot of other
•
major contributors who
•
happen to be Jews. Now that
they know what the field
looks like, some of those
people will pick candidates
and enter the process."
That could be good news
Im
for the remaining Democrat-
'
is contenders, who have had
problems raising the daun-
ting amounts of money it
takes to challenge an in-
cumbent president. Normal-
▪
ly, contributions from
wealthy Jewish backers are
-
particularly important in
the early stages of the presi-
dential process. High-
volume Jewish contributors
I
play a significant role in
providing the "seed money"
I
required to get a presiden-
0.
tial challenge off the ground.
Who will pick up the most
Jewish backing mow that
Mr. Cuomo has taken
himself out of the running?
According to several ex-
I•' perts, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-
O"' Iowa) and Arkansas Gov.
Bill Clinton are in a good
position to attract much of
the support that would have
gone to Mr. Cuomo.
"Clinton has shown he has
the ability to reach the
.
`Scoop Jackson wing' of the
01° Democratic party, which is
where a lot of Jews are ;" Mr.
Seigel said. "Harkin seems
I to be drawing strong support
from the traditional liberal
Jewish wing of the party."
Mr. Clinton recently ad-
Sen. Tom Harkin
and Gov. Bill
Clinton are likely to
attract much of the
Jewish support
that would have
gone to Mayor
Mario Cuomo.
community has been par-
ticularly galvanized by the
1992 contest, a fact that
could have important conse-
quences in terms of Jewish
political clout in the. capital.
"I think it's clear that the
Jewish community is simply
less interested, now that
Cuomo has bowed out," said
Allan Lichtman, an Ameri-
can University political
scientist and a leading pres-
idential prognosticator.
"You have a bunch of can-
didates who are basically
unproven. Cuomo was the
only one in the field who
could have made a real dif-
ference for the Democrats, in
terms of their ability to
Bernie Cootner. Copy rig ht° 1991, Ne
Washington Correspondent
dressed the Conference of
Presidents of Major Ameri-
can Jewish Organizations,
where his positive comments
on Israel's request for $10
billion in U.S. loan guar-
antees won praise.
"We were doing very well
before the Cuomo an-
nouncement in getting Jew-
ish support," said David If-
shin, a top Clinton advisor
and a longtime Jewish ac-
tivist. "But it's true that
people were waiting for
Cuomo to come in, and this
is going to free up some of
that support."
Mr. Ifshin also suggested
that the Jewish community,
with its politically
pragmatic viewpoint, is
looking for a candidate with
a real chance to beat George
Bush — a race that he be-
lieves his candidate leads.
But so far, there is little
indication that the Jewish
Artwork from Newsday
JAMES D. BESSER
Times Syndica te.
Jewish political backing is up for grabs
now that the governor of New York is out
of the Democratic presidential race.
mount a successful
challenge — and to the Jew-
ish community."
Jewish support, he said,
will probably split among
the remaining Democratic
candidates. As a result, the
community's impact in the
1992 nominating process is
apt to be less than in recent
presidential years.
"This could change if one
of the candidates emerges as
a frontrunner, and the Jews
turn to him in large
numbers," Mr. Lichtman
said. "But for now, Cuomo's
decision makes it look as if
the Jewish vote will split in
a number of different direc-
tions."
If that occurs, and fewer
candidates actively court the
Jewish vote, it will be harder
to ensure that the priority
items for Jewish activists
—including aid to Israel —
make it to the top of the
Democratic presidential
agenda.
But a leading Democratic
official says that negative
assessment is unlikely to
prove true.
"The Jewish community
will continue to be heavily
involved, as they have been
involved in the past," said
Nathan Landow, chair of the
Maryland Democratic party
and founder of IMPAC, a
group of major contributors
to Democratic presidential
candidates. "Look at the fig-
ures for the campaigns, and
you'll find major Jewish con-
tributors in every one of
them —leading members of
the Jewish community who
are already involved in the
process." ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29