The Quest for Jewish Donors
Thursday, September 1, 2011 6:03 AM
Poor Mitt Romney. (See below.) Unlike G.W. Bush, Romney has not had the opportunity to start a war on behalf of Israel. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" worked like a charm for Bush Jr. & Dick Cheney. The 2003 invasion of Iraq boosted their credentials among American Zionists and enlarged the Bush/Cheney 2004 reelection war chest considerably, while siphoning off Jewish cash from the hapless Senator John Kerry. I know, because a top Kerry fund-raiser told me so. Bush had delivered and was in the bag for the Likud agenda. All Kerry could do was talk.
Likewise, all Romney and the rest of the Republican dwarfs now running for President (Congressman Ron Paul excepted) can do is try to surpass one another in proclaiming how "pro-Israel" they are. This could take an enormous amount of play-acting, pandering and dumbing-down. (Obama has already done that in spades.) It will certainly be contrary to the legitimate interests of America and harmful to the well-being of humanity as a whole. But who cares?
These adverse consequences do not seem to matter one iota. They never have in the past. Business is business for the career politicians in Washington. Getting the money and getting elected is everything.
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Romney losing Jewish donors because they wrongly think Bachmann is a Jew...
By John Stevens 30th August 2011 // London
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is struggling to raise money from Jewish donors because they wrongly think his opponent Michele Bachmann is a Jew, it has been claimed. The former Massachusetts governor has tried to reach out to the Jewish community by positioning himself as an alternative to Obama whose administration has been unpopular because of its stance toward Israel.
But campaign organisers said that some Jewish donors are telling fundraisers that they would rather give money to the 'Jewish candidate', Michele Bachmann, rather than Romney, who is a Mormon. Mrs Bachmann is in fact a Lutheran, but has talked up her Jewish credentials and spoken about time spent on a Kibbutz.
'It's a real problem,' one Romney fundraiser told the New York Post. 'We're working very hard in the Jewish community because of Obama's Israel problem. This was surprising.' Romney has been trying to push the message to the Jewish community that he is a common-sense, business minded candidate and strong supporter of Israel.
But so far, he has struggled to win support among wealthy Jewish donors in places such as New York, New Jersey, Florida and California, who are unhappy with Obama's stance towards Israel. Romney campaign sources told the New York Post that they are now suspicious that Bachmann supports have been spreading the Jewish misunderstanding. Bachmann has repeatedly spoken about her stay on a Kibbutz in Israel in 1974 when she was a teenager.
She told the American Israel Political Action Committee last year: 'I am a Christian, but I consider my heritage Jewish, because it is the foundation, the roots of my faith as a Christian.' A Bachmann campaign spokesman told the New York Post that the congresswoman from Minnesota is doing well in the Jewish community because of 'her strong support of the nation of Israel', not because of confusion over her religion.
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Update I: “Democrats plan Jewish Outreach”, NY Times, September 9th.
Update II: “The War Room”, Salon, September 13th.
Update III: “After New York Race, GOP Sees a Ripple in Jewish Vote”, NY Times, September 14th.