The Piety Payoff

Metro Detroit's Jewish
Assisted Living Community

Liebermans religious pronouncements
could bring a big voter bonus.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

T

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he Jewish community is
still reverberating with the
debate over Sen. Joseph I.
Lieberman's politically con-
spicuous religiosity.
Last week, the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL) chided Lieberman, the
Democratic vice-presidential nominee,
in a letter that echoed earlier admoni-
tions to both major presidential con-
tenders to "keep in mind that public
profession of religious beliefs should
not be an elemental part of this or any
other political campaign."
The ADL action was roundly criti-
cized by some Jewish groups, defended
by others. ADEs Abraham Foxman took
to the Sunday talk show circuit, defend-
ing his comments; Lieberman, speaking
to a New York Times reporter, insisted
that he didn't mean to exclude those of
different faiths or no faith at all.
But after the hubbub subsides,
most political analysts agree that
Lieberman's "God talk," and the fact
that it is coming from an Orthodox
Jew, will be a big plus for the
Democrats in November, despite
grumbling from some sectors of the
Democratic coalition. Lieberman's
unique role in the campaign — part
politician, part rabbi to the nation —
is a matter of design, not accident,
some observers say,

Hidden Agendas

"It's a calculated strategy for distancing
the Democratic Party from the scan-
dals of the Clinton administration,
and it's a strategy that will definitely
help the ticket," said Marshall
Wittman, director of congressional
relations for the conservative Heritage
Foundation.
Lieberman, he said, is uniquely able
to tap into that undercurrent in
American politics. "At a time of
unprecedented prosperity, there is a
longing for a. return to more moral
and spiritual values in public policy,"
he said.
Christian right leaders who try to tap
into that feeling are seen as having an
underlying sectarian agenda, a percep-
tion they reinforce with their talk about

America as a "Christian nation" and
their support for mandatory school
prayer and opposition to abortion rights.
But Lieberman's Judaism and his
broad approach to religion in govern-
ment allow him to appeal to that
widespread longing without provoking
a backlash, Wittman said. "There is
no fear that he is trying to impose his
faith on others," he said.
That is reinforced by his opposition
to school prayer and his support for
abortion rights as well as the fact that
he does not proselytize.
Lieberman, playing the religion
card, will help the Democrats "erase
the God gap," said Johns Hopkins
University political scientist Benjamin
Ginsberg. "This allows the Democrats
to appeal to religion and morality;
since the person making the com-
ments is a Jew, Jewish voters and cam-
paign contributors, even those who are
not religious, are not frightened by it
in the way they would be if a
Christian was making these com-
ments."

Shared Piety

Lieberman's religiosity also helps the
ticket with African-American voters,
who have been cool to Gore and even
cooler to Lieberman, Green said. It
was no accident that the vice presiden-
tial nominee raised the God issue in
the strongest way yet before a black
church audience in Detroit.
"It reassures African Americans,"
Green said. "More importantly, it's a
point of commonality between
Lieberman and many African
Americans. He's a religious person;
they're religious people, too. So there's
a connection."
The religious focus helps
Lieberman with the broader electorate,
said presidential historian Allan J.
Lichtman of American University.
"And let's face it; there's almost noth-
ing the Democrats can do to lose the
Jewish vote now."
Only two months ago, Republicans
were hoping to attract up to 25 per-
cent of the Jewish vote to the Bush-
Cheney ticket; with Lieberman on the
Democratic ticket, many political
observer say, the GOP will be hard
pressed to reach 15 percent. El

