by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

January 31, 2008

Seated around card tables at the Jewish community campus in Whippany, a group of canasta players had already tossed most of the candidates in the discard pile ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5.

A quick canvas of the players at the Women at Leisure’s Jan. 24 meeting revealed 23 Clinton supporters out of 24.

Mitzi Husid of Florham Park said she is for Sen. Hillary Clinton “because she has got Bill as her partner. Having his ear is an asset. She will use him to advantage and he will mend some fences around the world.”

If Barack Obama were to become the nominee, Husid said, she would “probably vote for him. But if the Democrat was someone I don’t care for, I would consider voting Republican.”

Norma Gridinsky of Madison is another Clinton supporter. “The most wonderful thing this country could have is a woman president after men have done such a wonderful job messing up the world. That’s number one,” she said. “It will change everything.”

Rhoda Eisdorfer of Verona agreed. “We need a woman. The men have screwed it up, absolutely — the past eight years for sure,” she said.

To Jeri Friedman of Rockaway, “Hillary has the answers. It’s time for a woman president.”

Adrian Rothblatt of Denville already voted by absentee ballot for the candidate she called “Hillbilly,” suggesting that former President Bill Clinton would play a major role in his wife’s administration.

“I would not vote for Obama unless the Republican candidate was Huckabee or Giuliani,” Rothblatt said. “I like McCain’s personal story and he has a lot of integrity. Romney has executive experience, which they all lack.”

Rothblatt also found former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani a divisive figure. “He is a loose cannon, and I don’t think he has the demeanor appropriate for the president of the United States,” she said.

The smear campaign against Obama is “disgusting,” said Rothblatt. “My objection to him is he does not have the experience. This is not a place for on-the-job learning.”

Charlotte Abberman of Morristown said she is “not happy with any of the front-runners. My choice is Hillary, but I will vote for a Republican if I think that Republican is more qualified than a Democrat. Obama is a nice man who needs more seasoning, but if he ends up on the ballot, I’ll vote for him.”

The sole Republican in the room, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she had “not made up my mind, but it is going to be a Republican. I am definitely voting Republican, whoever is running. I don’t like any of the Democrats. I don’t like what they stand for.”

Her fellow card player Marion Solovay of Florham Park was quick to take issue.

“I wouldn’t vote for a Republican because they favor the rich,” she said. “The last seven years have been a disaster. I would never consider voting for a Republican.”

A two-Jew ticket?

As the Adult Education Committee of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston was about to begin its Sunday morning lesson in mosaic-making on Jan. 27, committee chair Barry Wolfe of Livingston took a moment to contemplate Super Tuesday.

Wolfe calls himself an “independent Republican” who “believes it best to not affiliate with one candidate or one party and not blindly follow anyone.”

As such, he will not vote on Feb. 5, when GOP members in 18 states and Democrats in 21 — including New Jersey — will pick their preferences for their parties’ presidential candidates.

Wolfe said he plans to make his choice at a later date.

“I will assess each candidate’s stand on the economy, the nation’s security,” he said. “I have no preferences at this point. I am waiting to see. Anything is possible.”

Then, joking about the improbable, he suggested the ticket of “Michael Bloomberg and Joe Lieberman. Two Jews,” he said, laughing

Some Jewish voters have fantasized about a somewhat more possible combination: Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Democrat Lieberman, who won reelection to his Senate seat from Connecticut in 2006 as an independent and jumped party lines to endorse McCain.

“God forbid — McCain and Lieberman are too polarizing,” said one member of a synagogue sisterhood committee who took time out from nominating her committee’s own officers to consider the national elections.

Like eight other committee members at the table, she did not wish to be identified by name. And, like nearly all the others, she is a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton.

“I’m leaning toward Hillary but I am interested in Obama,” said one of her colleagues.

Another had considerably less affection for Clinton’s rival from Illinois, comparing the affable Obama to the White House incumbent, President George W. Bush.

“I think the voters last time and the time before made a mistake by electing someone they’d ‘like to have a beer with.’ This time it’s not enough to say, ‘Gee, Barack looks like a nice guy.’ It’s not enough to think, ‘Do I like this guy?’”

“The world has gotten so complicated we don’t have time to have somebody learning on the job,” agreed a fellow committee member.

Another expressed regret that one Democratic dropout, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, is no longer in the race. “We like Richardson. He has world experience, he has the know-how.”

“I am so jaded at this point I think it doesn’t matter who they elect,” said another committee member.

Downstairs, seated among the mosaic-makers, Ellen Brandwine of Livingston disagreed.

“I am much more concerned that we will have a Democrat in office than which Democrat it is,” she said. She plans to “wait and see what Obama’s position is on Israel before I decide.”

In a nearby hallway, Phil Crystal of Livingston said, “I am a registered Democrat, and I don’t care for any of the Democratic selection.”

Might he vote Republican?

“Absolutely.”