The Republicans

Romney: Iran Hawk,
Bipartisan Governor
Mitt Romney's pitch to Jewish voters
breaks into three components: His tough
line on Iran; his record as a Republican
governor who worked well with
Democrats; and his belonging to an oft-
misunderstood religious minority.
As the governor of Massachusetts from
2003 to 2007, he worked with a Democratic
legislature and an overwhelmingly liberal
Jewish community to enact a groundbreak-
ing "Health Care for All" law.
To Jews, Romney has focused heavily on
his support for Israel and condemnation of
Iran. He outlined a multi-tiered plan in a
statement last June to the Israel Project. One
of President Bush's former Jewish liaisons,
speechwriter Noam Neusner, worked for
Romney's Commonwealth PAC last year.
Neusner is a former Detroit- Jewish News
staff writer.

Romney drew criticism
from other GOP candidates in
October for saying in a debate
that if Iran acquired nuclear
weapons he would consult with
his lawyers.
But that same time, Romney
was talking tough at the
Republican Jewish Coalition's
candidates' forum. When it
comes to the spread of terror-
ism, he said, the Democrats
"are in the most serious case of denial since
Neville Chamberlain."
"The real problem is that jihadists want
to conquer the world:' Romney said.
He championed Israel's security barrier,
which the Palestinians oppose because it
cuts through the West Bank.
Romney voiced skepticism over the
renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
launched in Annapolis, Md., in November.

"How could you possibly have
a peace conference at this
stage?" he asked, noting that
Hamas terrorists were now
controlling the Gaza Strip.
"Whom would you talk to?"
In a Dec. 6 speech in
College Park, Texas, Romney
said God "should remain on
our currency, in our pledge,
in the teaching of our his-
tory, and during the holiday
season, nativity scenes and menorahs
should be welcome in our public places!'
He added that he would "take care to
separate the affairs of government from any
religion, but I will not separate us from the
`God who gave us liberty.'"
Romney's Mormonism should not be
an issue, says one of his Jewish backers,
Michael Menis, an oral surgeon in Crystal
Lake, Ill. Menis, the chairman of the RJC's

Chicago chapter, cited the former governor's
competence as why he favored him.
"When he took the helm of the 2002
Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, he turned
an almost $400 million operating deficit
into one of the most successful Olympics
in history:' Menis said. He also praised
Romney's ability to "work both sides of the
[political] aisle!'
Nancy Kaufman, the director of the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Greater Boston, is disappointed in how
Romney appears to be tamping down his
reputation as a consensus-building moder-
ate as he appeals to Christian conservatives.
"I haven't heard him talk about work-
ing across faith groups:' Kaufman said. "I
worked closely with him and his wife, and
they were very appreciative of the role faith-
based groups played. He valued the Jewish
community and our input!' ❑

Giuliani Ducks His
Record Of Moderation
Rudy Giuliani's admonition in 2004 to
Jews who favored President Bush's tough
foreign policy but balked at his social con-
servatism was prescient:
"You're never going to find a candidate
you agree with completely" Giuliani said
at a Republican convention event spon-
sored by AIPAC and the United Jewish
Communities. "You've got to figure out
what's important"
Giuliani once was the leader of the
Republican pack because he was seen as
the likeliest to win over independents and
conservative Democrats. Now the former
New York City mayor, having fallen behind
in his presidential quest, is staking his

hopes for success in the
bigger states with later
primaries. There was even
speculation that he would
withdraw from the race if
he did poorly in the Jan.
29 Florida primary.
His campaign has long
been wary of pushing
Giuliani as a moderate.
When it cannot avoid
Giuliani's record, the
campaign casts it as con-
servatism.
Addressing his backing for gun control,
for example, his Web site frames it as a
tough-on-crime posture.
Prior to Giuliani's appearance at a

Republican Jewish Coalition
candidates' forum in October,
aides suggested he would not
play the moderate card with
its most natural audience.
Instead, Giuliani emphasized
his security credentials and
his tough talk on Iran.
The AJC poll gave him
75 percent approval ratings
among Jewish Republicans
and 41 percent approval
overall — making him the
second most popular candidate overall
behind Hillary Clinton.
Nor has it hurt him with the Republican
Jewish establishment. A review in October
found that Giuliani outpaced other can-

didates three to one in raising money
from the board of the Republican Jewish
Coalition.
Sheldon Adelson, the country's third
richest man, introduced him at the RJC
forum and has lent his plane for campaign
purposes.
At the forum, Adelson didn't spend
much time on domestic issues. He
reminded the audience of Giuliani's two
marquee pro-Israel acts as mayor: eject-
ing then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
from a Lincoln Center concert in 1995 and
returning Saudi money given in the wake
of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks after
the donor blamed the attacks on America's
pro-Israel policies.

Huckabee Upends
Evangelical Image
Mike Huckabee was a barely known former
governor of Arkansas when he attended an
October house party on his behalf at the
home of Jason Bedrick, New Hampshire's
first Orthodox Jewish state representative.
Which is probably why no major media
outlets picked up on the Republican presi-
dential candidate's radical proposal that day
for the Middle East: a Palestinian state — in
Egypt or Saudi Arabia.
"He is truly a uniter and not a divide,"
Bedrick said. "This is a guy who is very
positive, very uplifting," said Bedrick. But
for many American Jews, the thought of a
staunchly pro-life, ordained Baptist minister
as president is a major cause for alarm.
Especially one like Huckabee, who has
called on Americans to "take this nation
back for Christ': signed a newspaper adver-
tisement stating that wives should submit

to their husbands and
stated that he does not
believe in evolution.
Huckabee has faced
increased scrutiny over
his use of religion on the
campaign trail, including
one commercial describ-
ing him as a "Christian
leader."
Critics paint Huckabee
as religiously intolerant.
But he and many pundits portray him as the
new breed of evangelical Christian, one who
sees not only a religious imperative to stake
out conservative positions on social issues
like abortion and gay marriage, but also to
take more liberal stands on race, taxes, pov-
erty immigration and the environment.
He has employed populist rhetoric in
slamming the establishment of his own
party, challenged its general embrace of free

trade and recently criticized the
Bush administration's "arrogant"
approach to international diplo-
macy.
Huckabee opted not to attend a
forum in October organized by the
Republican Jewish Coalition, citing
scheduling conflicts. He has not
received a single donation from an
RJC board member.
Still, Huckabee privately sought
out Republican Jews, among them
RJC board member Fred Zeidman, a close
ally of President Bush. Zeidman, who met
with Huckabee in Washington, described
him as a"great guy, bright. Religion is his
life!'
Zeidman, who is backing John McCain's
bid for president, said he found nothing
troubling in his discussion with Huckabee
about his faith or his positions on U.S.-Israel
relations. "Does this affect Israel? In the short

run, no:' Zeidman said. "Their interests in
Israel are the same as our interests," he said,
referring to evangelical Christians.
In the end, some observers say, American
Jews — most of whom trend toward the
liberal — will find it impossible to get past
Huckabee's conservative Christian faith and
rhetoric, even though they translate into
staunch support for Israel.
"Jews have nothing to fear from
Huckabee," said Jerry Tanenbaum, a resident
of Hot Springs, Ark., and a supporter of the
Union for Reform Judaism. "I never found
him in Arkansas to be particularly invasive
with his religion on other people's rights!'
Tanenbaum, who says he would never vote
for Huckabee, described the GOP candidate
as being "fairly temperate in the way he
handles things" and said that as governor, he
"tried to keep politics and religion separate
to the best of his ability!'

- Beth Young, JTA

- Ron Kampeas, JTA

- Ben Harris and Ami Eden, JTA

January 31 a 2008

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