Loud

I

Clear

or months, presidential can those who responded would vote for
Sen. Kerry, compared to 24 percent
didates have slogged neck-
for President Bush, 3 percent for
and-neck through stump
speeches, primaries and conventions Ralph Nader and 5 percent unde-
cided, with three percentage points
— toward an election night that
margin of error.
might turn into a photo finish.
Although it has polarized the
While the overall race is
nation, the race also has ener-
Coy ER
too close to call, polls taken
STO RY gized many people into
in August show that Jews
activism by working or volun-
support Sen. John F. Kerry,
teering in a campaign.
D-Mass., over President George W.
When Daniel Wolf of Bloomfield
Bush, a Republican, by a nearly 3 to
Township celebrates his 18th birth-
1 margin.
day on Nov. 2 by stepping into the
The American Jewish Committee
voting booth (see accompanying story,
2004 Survey of American Jewish
page 14), Jews with ties to the local
Opinion showed 69 percent of

community will have worked at all
levels of the campaign — from the
national to the "seedling" grassroots
level --- to make sure he makes the
right choice.
Here are some of their stories.

Harry Kirsbaum, staff writer

`Jews For George' Is Born

*TN

10/29
2004

18

articles about what's happening in the
world, especially on topics such as ter-
rorism. The site is named for Occam's
•• Razor, a philosophical principle that, in
a nutshell, the simplest explanation is
the right one
As he reflected on everything he had
learned on the Web and in newspapers,
Freedman, now 29, came to one conclu-
sion: George W. Bush should continue
as president and he would work to keep
Mordechai Klainberg, 31, and Moe Freedman, 29, both of Oak Park, him there.
He met with about 150 Jews, mostly
work the phones.
Orthodox, to garner support for the
president in April, then jumped in with
A n avid reader, Moe Freedman has always been a
both feet and little real experience.
dill news junkie, always interested in the ideas and the
After the meeting, group members contacted some
arguments behind the politics, but he said he has never Bush campaign people to figure out what to do.
been that fascinated by practical politics — until Sept.
"They told us that they don't have a lot of resources
11, 2001.
because they're running a statewide and nationwide
He was sleeping at his home in Oak Park when his
campaign, and if we want to do this we can do it on
parents woke him up with the news: The World Trade
our own," Freedman said. "We created a federal PAC
Center and the Pentagon had just been attacked.
and called it 'Jews for George' — my idea."
After 9-11, he kept reading, but decided to start
Since then, they've raised money, created a Web site,
writing, too.
printed and distributed "Jews for George' campaign
Freedman started his own Web site, Occam's
literature, signs, bumper stickers and pins. He serves in
Toothbrush, wvvvv.occam.blogmosis.com , filled with

a paid position
as director of commu-
nications.
Freedman works out of a backroom office, raising
money with phon-a-thons on borrowed phones during
off hours.
"We've done what we can,"' he said. "There's a
groundswell of Jews who are very excited about the
president, and he has the support of part of the Jewish
community."
His father, Rabbi E.B. "Bunny" Freedman, likes to
tell this story about the president.
Rabbi Freedman is giving the invocation during the
president's recent appearance in Farmington Hills. At
the end of his speech, Bush shakes hands with the
rabbi and offers him a "Jews for George" button, but
the Secret Service snatches it away. You just don't hand.
the president anything.
The president takes a look at it and laughs.
The next day, the White House contacts the group:
They want 25 buttons sent to them as soon as possible
for staff members.

— Harry Kirsbaum, sta f f writer,
and Elizabeth Applebaum, special writer