Undecided voters weigh Israel, domestic issues
Parties waging battle over small percentage who have yet to choose
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Azriel Fellner of Livingston said, “I don’t think there can be anything that either Obama or Romney can do to help me make up my mind.”
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September 25, 2012
With less than six weeks before Election Day, polls are suggesting that as little as 8 percent of the electorate remains undecided.
But with the margin between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney razor-thin, both parties are expected to focus their final sprint on the voters who are still up for grabs.
That, at least, is the strategy of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which is targeting $5 million worth of TV ads in swing-state Jewish communities in south Florida, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia.
Although the RJC plans no such ads in New Jersey — a state expected to go solidly for Obama — their challenge will be to convince undecided voters like Sanford Hollander, a Newton lawyer who said he is balancing his dislike of the president’s Middle East policies with distaste for Romney’s domestic agenda.
“Obama does not use the bully pulpit in any way to support Israel. He doesn’t see the biblical narrative of support from Israel that the Jews espouse,” said Hollander, who is active in Jewish causes and is past president of what is now the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.
“If it was just foreign policy, I would vote against Obama in a minute,” he told NJJN in a Sept. 20 phone interview. “But I am a child of the Depression. I grew up in a left-wing atmosphere. I was involved in the civil rights movement, and I believe that government has a significant function in the well-being of people.”
Hollander said he is “greatly concerned” about what will happen to the Affordable Care Act and other domestic programs under a Romney administration.
And yet he questions Obama’s commitment to Israel, especially in its efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Israel cannot attack Iran without the United States’ commitment to resupply them,” he said. “There is not enough military aid for the United States to help Israel fight a war of attrition. Obama has not made that commitment,” he said.
Like her husband, Roslyn Hollander said she “may not make up my mind until the last minute.”
“I am not sure whether Romney would do more for Israel than Obama,” she said.
Rabbi Azriel Fellner, a Livingston resident and former religious leader at Temple Beth Shalom there, also considers himself undecided.
“Obama’s foreign policy is feckless,” said Fellner, who normally votes Democratic. “He has no clear idea of where he wants to be in terms of others in the world, especially in the Middle East. I don’t think he has made his position clear to the rest of the world and to Iran that a nuclear Iran would not be tolerable. He is still playing with the idea that diplomacy somehow might find a solution, which I think is just ridiculous.”
But when he looks at Romney, Fellner said, he also has concerns.
“His social policies and those of the extreme conservative part of the Republican Party are not in touch with what America really needs to do to provide for those people who cannot provide for themselves and have a government of compassion,” said Fellner. “Ultimately I will have to make a decision as to whether or not Obama’s progressive attitude toward America and its social policies outweighs my serious concern about his inability to deal with foreign policy.”
Although it isn’t planning an ad campaign like the RJC’s, the National Jewish Democratic Council is also reaching out to the small number of undecideds.
The NJDC will be “presenting undecided Jewish voters with the facts about President Obama’s exceptionally strong record of support for Israel along with his domestic record that reflects the Jewish value of tikun olam,” said its president and CEO, David A. Harris, in an e-mail. “This stands in stark contrast to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s dangerous domestic proposals, in addition to their reckless and hollow foreign policy posturing.
“Republicans are investing millions of dollars to smear — and often lie about — the President’s Israel record, all to cover up Romney’s awful domestic agenda.”
The RJC ads, meanwhile, will include testimonials from Michael Goldstein, an East Brunswick Democrat who said he’s voting for Romney.
“This ad highlights the ‘buyer’s remorse’ felt by many in the Jewish community who voted for Obama four years ago, but are now disillusioned with his economic policies and his policies toward Israel,” said RJC executive director Matt Brooks on his organization’s website.
Finding such voters, however, may be a challenge, at least according to a new poll of Florida Jewish voters by the American Jewish Committee. The poll found that Obama leads Romney by a 69-25 percentage-point margin, with 5 percent undecided — less than the 74 percent of the Jewish vote Obama got in 2008, but not the wide swing Republicans had been predicting.
Jonathan Tobin, the senior on-line editor of the conservative Jewish magazine Commentary, said that’s bad news for the Jewish GOP.
“If these results hold up, it is not enough of a shift to be considered large enough to help swing the state if Florida turns out to be close,” Tobin wrote on Sept. 21. “The drop in Obama’s support is explained by the answers to poll questions that show the positions of the majority of Jewish voters on topics like Israel and Iran to be significantly different from those of the administration.
“But those issues don’t appear to be enough to convince enough Jewish Democrats and independents to forsake the president in favor of Romney.”
Comments
Mike Goldstein
September 27, 2012
Since many in the article appear to be sitting on the fence- they should do what my good friend and mentor Rabbi Bernard Klein a holocaust studies scholar , now unfortunately deceased used to tell me. Rabbi Klein you see was also a survivor of Auschwitz, and had the numbers identifying him to the Nazis tatooed on his arm.
Rabbi Klein whenever a question of Israel’s security came about would also say to me - we should beleive everything that our enemies are saying they will do to us.
People laughed and scoffed at Hitler and called him a little clown and look at what happened. He also said people were walked to the trains and still could not believe this was happening to them.
So when the gentleman in the article talks about civil rights and being a child of depression I understand and get his democratic roots. I also know that Roosevelt did nothing to bomb the train tracks leading to the camps.
What the gentleman should be considering is a nuclear weapon dropped over Tel-Aviv. That is what Rabbi Klein would be thinking about. That is what I will be thinking about when I close the curtain and cast my vote. I hope that is what all Jews will be weighing in their minds this election. One voteis for the man who appeared on the View instead of meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, the other is for a man who mad a special trip to Israel to show his solidarity with them and support. One refuses to call the murderers of the US Ambassador in Libya a terrorist, the other is criticized for his critical tone. One says the capitol of Israel is Jerusalem, the other refuses to say.
Who would you rather see defending Israel and her people against an Iranian nuclear weapon?
I know what Rabbi Klein would tell me.
Paul Goodnick
September 29, 2012
This election is critical - to the future of Jewry and Israel in particular. On one side, we have a President who: 1) worsened the economy of the USA by continued high unemployment, spent money foolishly and thus lowered the value of US Bonds - the first President to do so, and whose own offices shows indices of a continuing poor economic picture; 2) made the world unsafe. How? He has pursued policies that enable Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb with no red line that is clearly needed as stated by the PM of Israel. Not surprising - back in 2008, his VP Biden stated to leaders of Jewry that Iran would have a bomb quite bluntly (Biden has been associated with the US-Iran friendship league in years past). He told the Arab leaders upon his inauguration of new start in Israel relations, overstated the Muslim population of the USA, adopted the Palestinian position for a pullback to pre-1967 iines deemed as dangerous by US democratic Presidents and military leaders, whose defense secretary told his to give in to Arab demands while getting nothing back, whose ambassador to Belgium blamed Israel for anti-semitism. His embassy in Cairo apologized to rioters - and he promised changes to policy in foreign relations privately to Putin and others when he thought no one heard him. His White House appointees have been resigning regularly now due to illegal and corrupted behavior. Israel citizens feel the USA can not be trusted and they are on their own to protect themselves - and I just now obtained a gas mask.
Michael Goldstein
September 30, 2012
If you get a chance watch this video with over 650,000 hits. It says it better than Ican by writing.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-and-the-threat-to-israel-see-the-absolutely-uncertain-video-thats-gotten-650k-hits-in-three-days/
Michael Goldstein
September 30, 2012
When you get a chance watch this video with over 650,000 hits it says it better than I ever can.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-and-the-threat-to-israel-see-the-absolutely-uncertain-video-thats-gotten-650k-hits-in-three-days/
Ray
October 03, 2012
It is my opinion that Mitt Romney is clueless when it come to dealing with a foreign threat. I suppose my opinion I give you all this video taking from the recently Republican’s debate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkK27gjB7mk&feature=related
It is also my opinion that Romney will say anything and everything to come across as a sincerely individual, but it is his flip-flop approach to saying want is good for the time, but he has no sincere commitment to anything he says. As evidence in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_pgfWK3sxw
Then one really needs to consider for the questionable activity he has been associated with as in this article: http://www.dailypaul.com/230720/romney-son-investigated-for-8-billion-ponzi-scheme
Another, thing that has soured my views of the Republicans is Karl Rove, I have a deep concern about the type of rhetic he uses in campaigns that makes my skin crawl. (article) that points to his character as a human being. http://www.salon.com/2011/11/16/karl_rove_spending_millions_lying_about_everyone/
Remeber Karl Rove was one of the mastermines behind “weapons of mass destruction.” We all want that lead too. America deserve better than what this group have to offer and just tired to particular about their plans and polcies just talk. i hope this put some light on thing happening behind the scene it get in to the White House. The last group that went to those extremes and entered the White House got us into the mess we are in now. I leave you all with this comment that simplified my choice: President Obama after leaving Havard, with being the first African -American to be President of the Havard Law Review, had an excellent opportunity to join a law firm and make millions, but he elected to help thousands those struggling Americans by becoming a community organizator. Romney on the other hands took over companies that empolyed thousands of hard working Americans, who had those jobs for years, forced those companies into bankruptcy. Laid-off Thousands of America, and he walks off with millions. to me he is “not” concerns with the American public, but more concern with American tax-payers dollars. Our senior citizens are in grave trouble. They only platform they have to run on is a struggling economy that was once a failing economy before Obama took office. Yet they blame President Obama for a struggling economy, but look at this video, it show clearly that this struggling is mainly due to the Congress approach to forcing this economy to fail. (video) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/19/paul-ryan-bush-stimulus_n_1803761.html
Did President Obama fail on economy issues are did the Republicans Congress do what was necessary to prevent any success. I just have a deep lack of TRUST for this group of individual, once their are in the White House it will be to late to stop them.
RAY
October 03, 2012
I know of the video that Michael Goldstein is referencing. I also, know that it is a political created video, to bring “FEAR” a method that Republicans use very well to their advantage. It have not been that long since George Bush second run for the Presidency. This same method of “FEAR” was used in the 2004 election, ” Iraq as an imminent threat” with “weapons of Massive destruction”. We all remember, and Bush was given a second questionable term. The young lady in the video I am sure she means well, but that same method of fear used the Republicans then is used on her now. Israel knows the America will backthem in any concern or threat from IRAN. President Obama is not dismissing Iran nuclear program nor is America’s Central intelligence Agency. Iran knows better, but The Republicans “METHOD OF FEAR” worked in the past and figure it will work here because they HAVE NOTHING. Allow me to show how they use tape footage and manpiulation of words and speeches of individuals to create concerns. Listen how they took Obama quote of John McCain and use it if though Obama said it. (prove) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sETaW-yeUm0&feature=related
The Republicans will do anything that can to gain control of the WHITE HOUSE. Do not trust them. They pay BIG MONEY to create lies: http://www.salon.com/2011/11/16/karl_rove_spending_millions_lying_about_everyone/
Do Not trust these people, they have but one agenda, POWER & GREED.
Mark Wilson
October 23, 2012
People Please! The deficit spending that currently exceeds 1 Trillion dollars a year is money we will not be able to pay off in our lifetimes. That means it will be transfered to our children and their children. It means we are Stealing money from the FUTURE!! Would you steal from your kids? Your Grandchildren? I don’t think so. But that is exactly what we are doing and it must STOP!! Do the right think. Lets all start living with in are means. I do, you do. Make the federal government stop the deficit spending (STEALING). Do the right thing in November!!