Washington Watch
BUY AMERICAN MADE
QUALITY AND
SAVER II
SATURN
THE LIMITED
Slip To the Right
South Carolina may have sealed Bush's
fate with Jewish voters.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
T
op Jewish Republicans
continue to stand behind
Texas Gov. George W.
Bush — the on-again-off-
again Republican presidential front-
runner whose status took a big hit in
Tuesday's Michigan primary.
But a growing number of analysts
say Bush's lurch to the right in South
Carolina — he handily won that
state's primary on Saturday by appeal-
ing to core Republican voters and
conservative Christians — could seal
his fate with Jewish voters.
Bush's shift away from-his theme of
inclusiveness will "keep his Jewish num-
bers very low" in November, said
American University historian Allan J.
Lichtman, who studies presidential pol-
itics: "In the past two weeks he hasn't
helped himself with minority voters."
Nor did Bush help himself with
some former backers. Rep. Peter King
(R-N.Y.), whose Long Island district
includes a sizable Jewish population,
this week withdrew his support from
Bush and endorsed McCain because
of that lurch.
In an interview, King cited Bush's
decision to speak at Bob Jones
University, a South Carolina institu-
tion that "is seen as anti-Catholic and
anti-black. It raised the whole specter
of bigotry; that causes real fear among
Jewish voters."
But the Bob Jones controversy was
just the last straw, King said.
"Combine that with the fact that,
, last year, Bush said he wasn't certain
whether Jews could get into heaven,"
he said. "The fact Bush said that as
part of an intellectual debate scared
me — and I'm not Jewish. If Jews
can't get into heaven, who's next?"
The Christian Coalition made an
all-out effort for Bush in South
Carolina; the campaign's shift in focus
to the party's religious-right flank
continued in Michigan, where the
founder of the Christian Right group,
evangelist Pat Robertson, harshly
attacked McCain.
In the final days of that campaign,
McCain and Bush traded accusations
of religiously charged negative cam-
paigning, aimed mostly at Michigan's
big Catholic population.
On Tuesday — with exit polls point-
ing to his loss to McCain — Bush tried
to put some distance between himself
and Robertson, who was accused of
orchestrating a statewide telephone
campaign labeling McCain's national
chairman, former Sen. Warren
Rudman, "a vicious bigot."
But it was South Carolina that set
a bitter tone that Jewish voters will
remember in November, according to
Marshall Wittman, an official with
the Heritage Foundation and a top
McCain supporter.
South Carolina "will haunt the
Bush campaign and the Republican
Party as it tries to win Jewish votes in
November," Wittman said "They
allied themselves with the hard right,
and that will have an impact on
Jewish voters."
Wittman, who is Jewish, is
Robertson's former legislative director.
But this week he said he was shocked
by the "nastiness" of the religious con-
servatives in the South Carolina race.
"I was appalled by what I heard
my former comrades did in South
Carolina," he said. "It has been very
sobering for me. The allies of the
Bush campaign really ran a gutter
campaign."
When he was at the Christian
Coalition, Wittman said, "there was a
real effort to bring that constituency
into the mainstream. But South
Carolina was a huge setback."
Still, he said, the Jewish
Republican leadership remains glued
to Bush, "and that's something they'll
have to deal with in November."
Wittman said there was at least a
glimmer of good Jewish news for the
GOP. "Anecdotally, at least, it
appeared McCain was attracting many
Jewish Democrats who were consider-
ing voting for a Republican for the
first time," he said. "That underscores
the vulnerability of the Democratic
Party in the Jewish community."
American University historian -
Allan J. Lichtman, who studies presi-
dential politics, predicted that Bush
will "steer way to the center after the
primaries. He'll probably come out
with some strong policy statements
on Israel in an effort to reassure the
Jewish community." ❑
By Wolverine
• Commercial Quality
• 3/4" Slate • All Formica Cabinet
• Adjustable Levelers
1" Italian Slate
— Made In Michigan
8'
Made In Michigan
REG.
$1375
$1995
In Stock Inventory
Additional Savings on Floor Models
AIR HOCKEY
7 ft., Electronic Scorer
COMMERCIAL AND HOME ARCADE
Everything
You 4►eed in
Game Room
Furnishings Bar
Stools, Pub Tables
and Arcade Games
MOVING &
RECOVERING
SALE
37730 Van Dyke
GO
BILLIARDS & GAME Room SUPPLY
North of 16 Mile in Sterling Place • Sterling Heights
Financing Available
(810) 268-3800
UMW MI /NW 411111 ■
EL. ELM A MI 111 III NT ■1 •1 NW IS
MAIL MEN IIIL IK
NMI
III Ell — —
EFFECTIVE AND DEPENDABLE PROTECTION
SINCE 1931
Featuring
"PERIMETER PLUS" Program
.
Exterior Non-Intrusive,
On-Call Pest
Prevention.
Enjoy your deck and the rest of the outdoors this
Summer with one or more of Eradico's programs
MOSQUITO CONTROL • EXTERIOR TREATMENTS
FOUR SEASONS PEST PREVENTION
We accept VISA & MasterCard.
Members of Michigan & National Pest Control Assoc.
TM of Dow AGRO Sciences
ERADICO PEST CONTROL
CALL TOLL FREE
888-479-5900
If you are not wearing it...
sell it!...
or BORROW on it!
You can't enjoy jewelry if it's sitting in your safe
deposit box. Sell or borrow on it for immediate
cash. We deal in jewelry, watches & gemstones.
A Service to Private
Owners, Banks & Estates
407;
4 47 kio
Gem/Diamond Specialist
AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA
IN GRADING & EVALUATION
30400 Telegraph Rd. • Suite 134
Bingham Farms 248-642-5575
Fine Jewelers
Est. 1919
Lawrence M. Allan, President
Dail), "Tit 5:30
Sat. 'Til 3
2/25
200
21