200
130th Season ° 9u
nied Obama on the trip.
Israel Support
None of this guarantees a smooth
pro-Israel presidency. During the pri-
maries, Obama cautioned Cleveland
Jewish leaders that to be "pro-Israel"
does not mean being "pro-Likud:' an
encomium that could haunt the U.S.-
Israel relationship if Obama is elected
and the Likud Party — as projected
— returns to power in case of early
elections in Israel. Still, Obama sup-
porters credit a meeting with Likud
leader Benjamin Netanyahu for some
of the nominee's initiatives dealing
with the Islamic Republic.
But it is the overemphasis on
Obama's Middle East views and asso-
ciations — real or imagined — that
might prove the critical weakness
in Republican efforts to cut down
Obama's support among Jews. It's not
just that it's true now, as it has been in
past campaigns, that Jews are not sin-
gle-issue voters. It is also that Obama
has uncovered an exquisite Jewish
spin to his broader appeal to generous
notions of America's liberal past.
In making the case that Obama is
among liberal bloggers as they rush to
permanently redefine the real McCain
as a dishonorable fraud, and it is gain-
ing ground among media pundits
and Democratic officials. In fact, the
attempts at McCain revisionism dur-
ing this presidential cycle go back to at
least 2006, when he faced criticism for
accepting an invitation from Falwell
to speak at Liberty University in
Lynchburg, Va.
Liberal bloggers ripped into
McCain, pointing to the speech and
the accompanying sit-down with
Falwell as proof that the Arizonan was
set to sell out his principles to win the
GOP nomination in 2008.
But taken together with separate
addresses McCain delivered in New
York a few days later to students at
Columbia College and the New School,
the speech at Liberty could just as eas-
ily be seen as reinforcing the image of
McCain as someone willing to cross
lines and build bridges. After all, how
many other presidential candidates
could boast of such a trifecta, espe-
cially in one week?
Ifshin, Once More
In all three speeches, McCain argued
an unreliable flip-flopper, Republicans
note that one of the biggest applause
lines in his AIPAC speech was his
Jerusalem pledge. But they don't men-
tion that the biggest applause line had
nothing to do with Israel — especially
extraordinary considering the foreign-
policy-first crowd.
"In the great social movements
in our country's history, Jewish and
African Americans have stood shoul-
der to shoulder," Obama said in his
conclusion. "They took buses down
south together. They marched together.
They bled together. And Jewish
Americans like Andrew Goodman and
Michael Schwerner were willing to
die alongside a black man — James
Chaney — on behalf of freedom and
equality. Their legacy is our inheri-
tance!'
In Washington's culture of sarcastic
bon mots, surely there lurks a line
about what it takes to make an AIPAC
activist cry. Judging by some of the
faces in the crowd that day in May,
Obama found the soft spot. ❑
JN presidential endorsement: page A37
tis
Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman pianos
SAT, NOV 8, 8 PM I Hill Auditorium • Ann Arbor
Yefim Bronfman is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso
pianists performing today. Born in Russia, he emigrated to Israel at age
14. Hebucks the stereotype of the Russian soloist as merely a technical
wizard of large sound and emphatic personality. He has technique to
burn, but he also has a chameleon-like ability to subsume himself in the
music:' (The New York Times) Returning for the first time since his UMS
debut in 1994, Bronfman is joined by the great American pianist Emanuel
Ax, renowned not only for his poetic temperament and unsurpassed
virtuosity but also for the exceptional breadth of his performing activity.
PROGRAM
Brahrns
Bolcom
Mozart
Rachmaninoff
Variations for Two Pianos on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56b (1873)
Recuerdos (1991)
Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K.448 (1781)
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940)
Co-Sponsored by Robert and Marina Whitman and Clayton and Ann Wilhite.
Media Sponsors WGTE 91.3 FM, Observer & Eccentric Newspapers,
WRCJ 90.9 FM, and Detroit Jewish News.
Who's better for Israel?: JNonline.us
for vigorous debate — and mutual
respect. To help make the point, dur-
ing his Columbia speech, McCain
reflected on his relationship with
Ifshin.
"I came to admire him for his
generosity, his passion for his ideals,
for the largeness of his heart, and I
realized he had not been my enemy
but my countryman ... and later my
friend:' McCain reportedly said.
"His friendship honored me. We
disagreed over much. Our politics
were often opposed, and we argued
those disagreements. But we worked
together for our shared ideals," he
said.
"David remained my country-
man and my friend until the day of
his death, at the age of 47, when he
left a loving wife and three beauti-
ful children and legions of friends
behind him. His country was a better
place for his service to her, and I had
become a better man for my friend-
ship with him. God bless him."
If nothing else, for anyone paying
attention, McCain's willingness to
bury the political hatchet with Falwell
should have seemed perfectly in char-
acter. ❑
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein music director I Robert McDuffie violin
SUN, NOV 16, 4 PM I Hill Auditorium • Ann Arbor
Leon Botstein has one of the most unusual resumes in the business: the
Bard College president is founder and co-artistic director of the Bard Music
Festival, directs the American Symphony Orchestra, and now leads the
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, originally founded in the 1940s as Israel's
national radio orchestra. This UMS debut appearance features works by
three Jewish-American composers.
PROGRAM
Sternberg
Bernstein
The Twelve Tribes of Israel (1941)
Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp, and Percussion
Copland
Symphony No. 3
(after Plato's 'Symposium") (1954)
(1944-46)
Sponsored by the UMS National Council.
Co-Sponsored by Gil Omenn and Martha Darling and Jane and Edward Schulak.
Hosted by Thomas B. McMullen Company and Beverly Franzblau Baker.
Media Sponsors WGTE 91.3 FM, Observer & Eccentric Newspapers, and Detroit Jewish News.
LIIMS
61 , socis
or Click For Tickets!
734.764.25381 www.ums.org
Call
October 30 • 2008
A29