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Election

In nine months, an arduous process will
end with the election of a new president.

hen in the course of human events
..." an election process lasts the
better part of two years, the elec-
torate can get overwhelmed with information
and inuendo. With at least seven of the candi-
dates for U.S. president receiving front-runner
attention in the early primary and state cau-
cuses, our friends at the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency in New York have cut through the
blizzard of information. They have provided

profiles on the leading candidates views and
policies toward "Jewish" issues and Israel.
The candidates will tell you that nothing is
written in stone. Their positions can change
while, at the same time, they lambaste their
opponents for something said 20 years ago.
The following profiles are offered as a long-
term look at candidate positions and views
over the long haul.

- Alan Hitsky, associate editor

The Democrats

Clinton's Journey
To Jewish Favorite
Seven years of hard work cultivating the
Jewish leadership in New York and nation-
ally has paid off for Hillary Clinton. Her
approval rating among Jewish Democrats,
according to an American Jewish
Committee poll in November, was 70 per-
cent. Among all Jews it was 53 percent.
As first lady, Clinton's pro-Israel record
at times seemed one note, even superficial,
against the breadth and depth her hus-
band brought to the issue. It didn't help
her profile among Jews that the Clinton
administration used her as a stalking
horse to advocate for a Palestinian state.
Then in 1999, on the eve of her first bid for
the U.S. Senate, she embraced Suha Arafat
after the Palestinian leader's wife accused
Israel of deliberately poisoning Palestinian
children. Clinton said later she hadn't been

paying close attention
to the simultaneous
translation.
It soon became clear,
however, that she was
willing to listen.
Once elected to the
Senate, Clinton reached
out to Jewish organiza-
tional leaders and soon
became a staple of the
Jewish circuit. Hardly a
Washington event run by a national Jewish
group does not include an address by
Clinton.
On many issues, particularly in the
domestic arena, little gap existed between
Clinton and the predominantly liberal
Jewish organizational community. As first
lady, Clinton had an established record
promoting universal health care; and as

senator she worked hard to
stop Bush administration
rollbacks on the Medicare
program, which is almost
universally favored by an
aging Jewish population.
In other areas, Clinton
exhibited a subtle grasp
of issues that concern
the community, strongly
backing discretionary
Homeland Security funds
to help protect nonprofits from terrorist
attack. The bulk of those funds have gone
to Jewish institutions.
She also has adopted a campaign to
press Arab governments to remove incite-
ment against Jews and Israel from their
textbooks.
Clinton took a hit last fall from her
party's base when she voted in favor of

a nonbinding amendment that recom-
mended sanctions against the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards. Bush eventually
ordered the sanctions, favored by the pro-
Israel lobby as a means of pressing Iran
to give up its suspected nuclear weapons
program.
That drew sharp criticism from her
competitors, who said the vote would
embolden the Bush administration into
waging war against Iran. She stood her
ground.
Two of her major backers in this cam-
paign supported polar opposites among
the Democrats in 2004: Lonnie Kaplan
of New Jersey went for Sen. Joseph
Lieberman of Connecticut and his tough
foreign policy; and Steve Grossman opted
for ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who
was fiercely anti-war.

the McCain-Feingold
Campaign Finance
Reform Act in 2002.
Lieberman's backing
of McCain has led to
mutterings among insid-
ers over the possibility
of a McCain-Lieberman
ticket. Both McCain and
Lieberman support the
administration's position
on the Iraq war and have
taken a hard-line approach to Iran.
Mark Broxmeyer, chairman of the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs, has
been named by McCain as the chair of his
Jewish advisory committee. JINSA has been
among the most consistent supporters of
the Bush administration's Iraq policy.
McCain at times also has drawn Jewish

support — if not political backing
— from left-wing Jews.
McCain repeatedly has cited
Israel's 1999 ban on torture in
refuting claims that it is a helpful
tool in combating terrorism.
His relationship with Bush has
changed over the years. Bush and
McCain sparred fiercely in the
2000 campaign, and the senator
toyed with a vice presidency offer
from Massachusetts Sen. John
Kerry, the Democratic candidate in 2004.
Noting reports of the success of the surge
in Iraq, McCain reminded the Republican
Jewish Coalition that his was a lonely voice
advocating additional troops in 2004.
Fred Zeidman, a Texas venture capi-
talist and political fundraiser, has long
been a McCain ally and is also very close

to President Bush. Zeidman agreed that
McCain was earning respect in the party as
his policies appeared to be vindicated.
McCain drew criticism last fall after he
told beliefnet.com that he would prefer a
candidate who shared his Christian reli-
gious views. Republican Jewish leaders said
his remarks needed to be put in the context
of his long support for the Jewish people.
"A full reading of the entire interview
shows Sen. McCain unequivocally reaf-
firming the separation of church and state
and recognizing the Judeo-Christian values
upon which this country was founded;' the
RJC said in a statement.
Zeidman adds, "John McCain is the only
candidate that has a 20-year demonstrated
history of unequivocal support for the State
of Israel:'

- Ron Kampeas, JTA

The Republicans

Maverick McCain's
Jewish Supporters
John McCain's reputation as a maverick
holds true in the Jewish world, where his
list of allies spans the political spectrum.
His long-term support for Israel and
human rights issues along with his willing-
ness to cross party lines has won him allies
among conservative Republicans, indepen-
dent Democrats and even some liberal Jews.
Topping his list of Jewish supporters is
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Conn, the
independent Democrat who made head-
lines by endorsing the presidential bid of
his Republican colleague from Arizona.
A U.S. senator since 1986, McCain
developed a reputation for breaking with
his Republican colleagues. Most famously
he joined with Russ Feingold, a Jewish
Democrat from Wisconsin, in passing

- Beth Young, JTA

Election on page A22

January 31 s 2008

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