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Palin from page A28
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Buchanan Connection
In a seemingly equal bit of stretch-
ing in the other direction, some
Democrats played up an Associated
Press report that Palin — then the
mayor of the small Alaska town of
Wasilla — had sported a Buchanan
button in 1999 when the Reform Party
candidate visited there.
"John McCain's decision to select a
vice presidential running mate that
endorsed Pat Buchanan for President
in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish
Americans:' said an e-mail from the
campaign of Sen. Barack Obama,
D-Ill., the Democratic nominee for
president. It quoted U.S. Rep. Robert
Wexler, D-Fla., Obama's top Jewish
surrogate. "Pat Buchanan is a Nazi
sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious
record on Israel, even going as far as
to denounce bringing former Nazi
soldiers to justice and praising Adolf
Hitler for his 'great courage.'"
The problem was that Pahm had
corrected the record as soon as the AP
report appeared, noting in a letter to
a local newspaper that had published
the account that she wore the but-
ton as a courtesy. In fact, in the 2000
election, during the GOP primaries,
she was an official of the Steve Forbes
campaign.
The hunger for Palin-Jewish news
extended beyond partisan politics.
Pulses quickened among some in the
Israeli media when the McCain cam-
paign revealed that Palin's 17-year-
old unmarried daughter, Bristol, is
pregnant and that her fiance's name is
Levi. (It was revealed later that his last
name is Johnston, so no seders in the
immediate Palin family future.)
The National Jewish Democratic
Council focused on a more substantive
difference between Palin and the U.S.
Jewish community: her staunch social
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Airlines helped shepherd thousands of
Yemeni Jews to Israel.
However, she did not initiate the
legislation: Its major mover was John
Harris, the speaker of the Alaska
House.
The paucity of material led the
Republican Jewish Coalition to tout
the appearance of a small Israeli flag
propped against a window of the state
Capitol in an online video in which
Palin proclaims the virtues of hiking
Juneau.
In an e-mail blast, RJC Executive
Director Matt Brooks offered the
screengrab as an answer for "those of
you who have had questions regarding
Sarah Palin and her views on Israel."
conservatism.
"For a party which claims it is try-
ing to reach out to the Jewish com-
munity, McCain's pick is particularly
strange NJDC Director Ira Forman
said in a statement. "On a broad range
of issues, most strikingly on the issue
of women's reproductive freedom, she
is totally out of step with Jewish public
opinion.
"The gulf between Palin's public
policy positions and the American
Jewish community is best illustrated
by the fact that the Christian Coalition
of America was one of the strongest
advocates of her selection."
Palin backs abortion only in cases
where a woman's life is at risk, oppos-
es stem-cell research and believes cre-
ationism should be taught in schools
alongside evolution.
Perhaps the most damning feature
of her resume on Jewish issues is its
thinness — her broader problem as
well. Berkowitz, the Jewish congressio-
nal candidate, poked a little fun at the
resume by citing Palin's enthusiasm
for guns and hunting.
"As far as Republican vice presi-
dents go, she will be a much better
shot than Dick Cheney:' he said. "But
this is John McCain's choice and an
insight in terms of his judgment."
Ben Chouake, who heads NORPAC,
a New Jersey-based pro-Israel politi-
cal action committee and one who is
close to the McCain campaign, says
he learned that McCain favored Sen.
Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the one-
time Democrat and Al Gore's vice-
presidential pick in 2000, until the
last minute but caved to arguments
that Lieberman would alienate the
Republican Party's conservative base.
"I don't know anything about her;
but I'm not concerned because she is
the governor, someone with executive
experience Chouake said.
Pah. has served less than two years
as governor and, as NJDC noted, has
"zero foreign policy experience."
Greenberg, the Chabad rabbi who
has not endorsed a candidate, sug-
gests that Palin makes up in soul what
she lacks in experience, referring to
her fifth child, Trig, a Down syndrome
baby born just four months ago.
"I was personally impressed by
Governor Palin's remarks of hope and
faith when she gave birth to a child
with special needs:' he said. "We all
feel that the governor is a remarkable,
energetic, and good person!' 0
JTA staff writer Jacob Berkman contrib-
uted to this report from New York.