WHERE CREATIVE PEARS AND CREATIVE DESIGNS GO HAND IN HAND
LAMAR page 73
Alexander. And he's competing
with (Steve) Forbes, who can
spend indefinitely. So he has some
major challenges ahead of him."
The Jews who know Mr.
Alexander best draw a picture of
a remarkably persistent candi-
date who doesn't mind the kind
of long odds he faces in 1996.
former Secretary of State
Lawrence Eagleburger.
"It was very important for him
to see Israel, to understand the
geography better, and to witness
firsthand why Israelis are the way
they are," Mr. Lavine said.
Critics worry about Mr.
Alexander's long and close asso-
"He's very dogged," said Lewis
Lavine, a Nashville businessman
who served for three years as Mr.
Alexander's chief of staff. "He's
the kind of guy who'd walk 1000
miles to become governor."
In 1978, Mr. Alexander walked
the breadth of Tennessee, a cam-
paign gimmick that he insisted
brought him closer to the people.
Gimmick or not, Mr. Alexander
was elected.
Mr. Lavine, who helped Mr.
Alexander kick off his New
Hampshire campaign, witnessed
first-hand Mr. Alexander's inter-
actions with the Jewish commu-
nity during his eight years in the
statehouse.
'We have very few Jews in this
state," he said. "But Lamar went
to law school at New York Uni-
versity; he lived in the Village,
and learned what cultural differ-
ences are all about."
Several incidents during his
tenure illustrate Mr. Alexander's
sensitivity to Jewish concerns, Mr.
Lavine said.
"There was a bomb threat at
a Reform synagogue and a
swastika at a Conservative syn-
agogue. Lamar quickly called the
rabbis and offered his help. More
importantly, he did this in a very
public way; he tried to use these
incidents as a way to educate
people in the state about toler-
ance."
Mr. Alexander also created a
state Holocaust commission.
"When he was asked to make
a proclamation about the Holo-
caust, he said no," Mr. Lavine
said. "He wanted to do something
more effective — so he taught a
class on the subject at Hiliwood
High School in Nashville. He read
books about [the Holocaust],
talked to people like Elie Wiesel.
And he worked very hard to in-
volve others in the community, to
give it a greater impact."
Jewish backers also talk about
a 1994 trip to Israel, arranged by
former Sen. Howard Baker and
ciation with Mr. Baker, who was
widely regarded as less than
friendly to the pro-Israel cause;
supporters argue that the candi-
date is resisting the tide of neo-
isolationism sweeping the party,
and that he will continue Amer-
ican leadership in the quest for
a durable Middle East peace.
Mr. Alexander is good for the
Jews because he practices the pol-
itics of inclusion, according to
Daniel Casse, his campaign's pol-
icy director.
"He feels that divisiveness is
not good for politics," said Casse,
who is Jewish. "Politics is about
getting people involved, about cre-
ating coalitions. This race isn't
about throwing people out of the
wagon, it's about defining what
the most important ideas are for
the next century. And that's good
for the Jewish community."
But opponents point out that
Mr. Alexander was one of the first
to introduce negative ads in the
New Hampshire race; they say
that it is still not clear whether
his commitment to clean cam-
paigning is a campaign ruse, or
the result of a change of heart
about the dirty state of electoral
politics.
And although he looks moder-
ate when lined up against Mr.
Buchanan, he is still a strong con-
servative who flatly opposes abor-
tion, supports a "moment of
silence" in the schools and advo-
cates the end of government so-
cial welfare programs; such
programs, he says, should be re-
placed by states, communities,
and private agencies.
"Lamar does well with the Jew-
ish community in our state on is-
sues of integrity, and because of
his sensitivity to Israel," said a
Jewish political activist in Mem-
phis who has not yet made up his
mind about the presidential con-
test. "There is a strong tendency
in our state to support our own in
national politics, and he is clear-
ly the genuine Tennessee article.
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