National Jewish Democratic Council

As John McCain is lying to try and get Jews to vote for him, it might be a good idea to review the facts about Obama and McCain from a Jewish perspective. This comes from the National Jewish Democratic Council:

OBAMA STANDS WITH PROGRESSIVE VALUES ON DOMESTIC ISSUES

• He supports reproductive rights and will uphold Roe v. Wade.
• Obama cosponsored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.
• He will provide affordable access to health insurance for every American.
• He has fought for increased investment in renewable fuels.

OBAMA PERFECT PRO-ISRAEL VOTING RECORD

The pro-Israel community has always used voting records to determine whether a candidate is “pro-Israel.”
• He has voted in favor of foreign aid to Israel every time.
• He has signed onto numerous pro-Israel letters and resolutions.
• When in the State Senate, he cosponsored a bill authorizing the state of Illinois to invest in Israel bonds.

OBAMA BELIEVES ISRAEL’S SECURITY IS PARAMOUNT

• Obama said, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct [...] I will also carry with me an unshakable commitment to the security of
Israel and the friendship between the United States and Israel.” – New York Sun, 2/25/2008

The Republican Party has already alienated about 2/3 of American voters. Their right wing extremism has turned into a big turnoff for America. But these extremists don't intend to give up. Mike Huckabee it the latest right wing nut case who wants to be the new George Bush.

Huckabee has recently surged in Iowa. I predicted some time ago that Huckabee could be the Dark Horse Republican candidate. He still has a hard fight ahead of him, but as the voters realize that McCain sold out to Bush years ago, Romney is a flip-flopper whose religious beliefs are scarcely less crazy than Scientology, and Giuliani is an unpleasant man who screwed New York firefighters and put a mob-connected dirty cop in charge of the NYPD, Huckabee starts looking good to some voters. I don't really think Iowa voters are suddenly turning into right wing fanatics like Huckabee. I think they are simply so disgusted with the Republican front runners, and Huckabee just happens to be the next in line. I believe once voters realize how crazy Huckabee is they will drop him like a hot potato. The question is will they realize in time?

The National Jewish Democratic Council has a fact sheet on Huckabee that I believe is worth consideration:

Dangerous Dark Horse:
HUCKABEE'S EXTREMISM

Huckabee indicated that he does not believe in evolution during a GOP primary debate. Watch the YouTube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Cc8t3Zd5E

The National Jewish Democratic Council is eyeing Mike Huckabee as quite possibly the most dangerous and fanatical of all the Republican presidential hopefuls, combinging Christian fundamentalism with corruption.

The rise of Huckabee should be a major concern both for Republicans (who now have another very failed candidate as their potential nominee) and for Democrats (who should be concerned whenever an extreme candidate gets a whiff of the Presidency).

...Here are a few concerns about his record:

- In June, Huckabee issued a call to arms to religious conservatives, urging them to vote on the very social issues that are undermining the wall between church and state.

- Also in June 2007, Huckabee said that "most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo ..."

- In May 2007, Huckabee went on record as not believing in evolution.

- In October 2006, Huckabee joked that he lost weight because Democrats put him in a concentration camp.

- In 1998, Huckabee called on the religious right to "take this nation back for Christ."

I got a nice email from the Communications Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition in response to my recent diary discussing the Jewish Vote in this election. I want to say I appreciate her response. She claims that the exit polls showing the overwhelming Democratic Jewish vote I mention in the above diary on are inacurate and that Jews are now voting 26% Republican according to exit polls done by her organization rather than the 12% indicated by the media-run polls cited by the National Jewish Democratic Council that I mention in my previous diary.

I am happy to pass along her comment, but I should say that I believe the NJDC numbers to be reasonable and to correspond with my experiences. Both NJDC and RJC are partisan and their numbers should be taken with grains of salt. However the RJC poll is partisan, while the NJDC is citing a non-partisan poll conducted by the media. Doesn't necessarily make the NJDC data better, but the partisanship of the polls must be taken into account.

The Philadelphia Jewish Voice has an interesting and relavent article showing that there are very few Jewish Republicans in office or running for office. When one looks at who is running, there is still a sharp preference for the Democratic Party.