"Being
Jewish

can

cost votes."

TH E DE TRO I T J E WIS H N EWS

— Sen. Arlen Specter

52

In the late 1970s, there were only two Jewish senators —
Sen. Abraham Ribicoff(D-Conn.) and Sen. Jacob Javits (D-N.Y.)
— and a dozen or so Jewish members of the House. Today there's
a minyan in the upper chamber — although not according to
Orthodox rules, since two of the Jewish senators are women —
and 24 Jews in the House of Representatives.
The numbers were even more impressive before the Repub-
lican earthquake swept dozens of Democrats — including many
from the Jewish delegation — out of office in 1994.
Even more dramatic is the demographic shift. Twenty years
ago, almost all the Jewish legislators came from the North-
eastern urban strongholds of American Jewry. But in recent
years, Jews have represented Kansas, Alabama, Nevada, Ore-
gon, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa
and the Tidewater area of Virginia.
"Joe McCarthy must be spinning in his grave knowing that
two Jews are representing his state in the Senate," said jour-
nalist and political consultant Douglas Bloomfield, referring to
Wisconsin, where Jews comprise only 0.7 percent of the total
population. The state is now represented by two Jews: Sen. Her-
bert Kohl and Sen. Russ Feingold, both Democrats.
And Jewish legislators today are more open about their reli-
gious identity. They attend holiday celebrations, study Jew-
ish texts, and they meet informally on a range of issues, although
there is still no official "Jewish caucus" to match the congres-
sional black, Hispanic or women's caucuses.
`There was a time when some Jewish members concealed,
or at least avoided, their Jewishness," said Mr. Bloomfield, who
worked for a Jewish legislator throughout the 1970s. "Today
they find it a political asset; even those with barely any real
Jewish identification are making a big deal out of it because it
helps with Jewish constituents and Jewish fund-raisers, and
it's no liability with non-Jewish constituents."

The Lieberman Legacy

Mr. Lieberman — respected by his colleagues, thoughtful and
moderate, with a strain of old-fashioned conservatism totally
unlike what passes for conservatism on the shrill, cynical talk
shows that seem to drive our national debate — is today's ar-
chetypal successful JewiSh politician.
After serving as Connecticut attorney general, he became the
first observant Jew to serve in the Senate in 1989. During his
first few years on Capitol Hill, reporters regularly filed stories

former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, author of the success-
ful Book of Virtues, to attack sex-and-sensation television talk
shows. That effort at senatorial arm-twisting convinced several
major sponsors to pull advertisements from these programs.
Mr. Lieberman is not blind to his part in a political sea of
change for American Jews.
"This is a remarkable time of opportunity," he said. "Here I
am in a state that has a Jewish population of 3 or 4 percent; the
fact that rm Jewish and observant is known; and they've given
me this great vote of confidence. Obviously, people aren't voting
on the basis of religion."
Mr. Lieberman sees no impossible hurdles to full Jewish par-
ticipation in the nation's political life.
"The number of Jews will go up and down from [congres-
sional] session to session," he said. "But that has more to do
with political ups and downs rather than the fact that they're
Jewish. Institutionally and structurally, I don't see any im-
pediments. Maybe in some places in the country, but not gen-
erally."
The growing economic security of the Jewish population,
he said, also has encouraged more young Jews to consider politics
as a career, increasing the pool of Jews who eventually could
enter the political big leagues.
"Obviously, the first serious Jewish candidate [for president]
will be an object of some curiosity," he said, laughing when asked
about his own prospects. "But I don't think that ultimately
the person's success or failure will be determined by his or her
religion; it will be a factor, but ultimately only a secondary one.
I think the American public is ready to vote for somebody who
is Jewish. The fact that it hasn't happened is not because of re-
ligion, but because nobody has yet risen to that stature — or
because those who have choose not to run."
Religious Jews in particular, he said, might be politically well-
positioned in an era of great public moral concerns.
"Both Jews and Christians who are prepared to speak from
their religious experience and faith about a system of values,
and how that system of values can help respond to some of
the problems we have in our nation, will be actively welcomed
by voters," he said.
Mr. Lieberman criticized his own party for its unwillingness
to acknowledge the important role of religion "as a creator of
values and as a kind of ally of government in trying to create
a good society. The fact is that most Americans are religious;
it's very important for us as a party to respect this and ac-
knowledge it as a strength and to speak sometimes in those
terms within the political context."
Mr. Lieberman's consistent willingness to speak in these
terms has set him apart from his colleagues, who tend to use
pious expressions and religious allusions as cheap political give-
aways.
It hasn't limited his political horizons.
When Bill Clinton first began to look like a serious candidate
in the 1992 Democratic primaries, there was a flurry of specu-
lation about Mr. Lieberman as a possible vice presidential nom-
inee; inside the Beltway, he is regularly mentioned as one of a
younger generation of conservative Democrats who could make
a credible White House bid in the early 2000s.
The nation, many believe, finally could be ready for a presi-
dent in a kippah.
`The last real pathfinder candidate was Al Smith, a Catholic,
in 1928," presidential historian Allan Lichtman said in an in-
terview. 'That was a long time ago; the next logical pathfind-
er should be a Jew."
That's the good news from the American University schol-
ar and author of The Keys to the White House 1996, an up-
date of his groundbreaking system for predicting presidential
contests. The bad news is that the first serious Jewish candi-
date may not be a winner.
`Typically, the first pioneers do not go all the way," he said.
"It generally falls to those who come afterward to win the prize."
In the case of the Catholics, 32 years had to pass before John
F. Kennedy was able to go through the door first opened by Al
Smith, who lost to the enormously popular Herbert Hoover.
So what is the political profile of the ideal Jewish candidate
for the nation's highest office?
"For a Jewish candidate, being more conservative would help,"
he said. "It always helps to run against stereotypes. He or she

—

about the complex choices he makes when important votes or
committee hearings are scheduled on Shabbat or on important
holidays.
Mr. Lieberman has said his Orthodoxy — and his belief in
the intrinsic connection between Judaism and the rule of law
— were pivotal in his decision to enter politics, and in his legis-
lative activism on a number of issues, including environmental
protection and criminal justice.
Last year, he won new public acclaim when he teamed with

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