by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

October 30, 2008

New York Times pundit Maureen Dowd offered a signature blend of political commentary and one-liners in a speech to nearly 700 people at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston Oct. 23.

It was a night of talking trash about Sarah Palin and more serious-minded discussion of Barack Obama, including both his strengths and his liabilities.

It was not a night for much debate, however; the crowd seemed inclined to support the Democratic candidate over Palin’s ticket-mate, and in interviews before the talk, it was hard to find even a Republican who was voting for John McCain.

“Okay, I admit it. I love Sarah Palin,” said Dowd, who writes a Pulitzer Prize-winning column for the Times. “She’s God’s gift to journalism. She makes Dan Quayle seem like Hannah Arendt.”

On Palin’s ability to field-dress a moose and still put on lipstick and high heels, she said, “The woman can do it all if you don’t count knowing about NATO or the liquidity crunch.”

Dowd, in black stilettos and a green silk blouse, acknowledged her disappointment when Obama, “Mr. Super Cool, possibly soon to be Mr. Super Cool President,” requested a private word with her, off the record. Dowd said she was expecting “the scoop of the season.” Instead, he basically told her, “Back off lady, you’re annoying me.”

Dowd, clearly not a McCain/Palin supporter, nonetheless raised some serious concerns regarding Obama, particularly his approach to issues and an approach she sees as overly academic.

“The question with Obama is, ‘Is he JFK, or is he Adlai Stevenson?’ I am a little worried he might recreate the Hyde Park faculty lounge in the White House,” she said.

(The slightly older crowd seemed to have no trouble unpacking her references, which included Stevenson, the Democrats’ brainy and unsuccessful presidential candidate in the 1950s; Quayle, President George H.W. Bush’s much-ridiculed vice president; Arendt, the 20th-century German-Jewish intellectual; and Hyde Park, Obama’s gentrified neighborhood in Chicago where the University of Chicago is located.)

In a surprise move, Dowd invited New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal, who happened to be in the audience, to the podium to join her during the question-and-answer period.

Rosenthal fielded a question from a man who said McCain was more “articulate” and “stronger” on questions relating to support for Israel compared with Obama and who wondered whether Dowd or Rosenthal had noticed the same.

Rosenthal agreed, but downplayed the importance of the distinction.

“McCain has had years of training on how to answer those questions and Obama has not,” said Rosenthal, the son of the late A.M. Rosenthal, the newspaper’s longtime executive editor and columnist. “But the chances that an Obama administration would have a substantially different policy toward Israel is zero.

“What would be the other American policy toward Israel?” Rosenthal asked. “Are we going to support, you know, Syria?”

Lost party

Meanwhile, among nine people interviewed at random, including three women and six men ranging in age from 56 to 83 (several women declined to give their age), none was a McCain supporter. Two were registered Republicans, and several more had voted Republican in the past. The most important issues for these voters were the economy, the war in Iraq, and the Supreme Court, as well as health care, the environment, and change from the Bush administration. A few just didn’t like Palin and felt the party had lost its way.

Larry Kron, 64, of Randolph, a Republican, said, “I’m voting against the present administration and all of the things they have done, from the war in Iraq to the economy, to the environmental issues, to the politicizing of the whole government.”

Howard Greenwald of South Orange, a member of Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, is also a registered Republican. Like Kron, he is voting for Obama. “I don’t like Sarah Palin; I think she’s the wrong choice for our party. McCain is not doing enough for our party,” he said. He did not give his age.

Toula Halperin of Short Hills, wearing an Obama pin, named the war, the economy, possible appointments to the Supreme Court, and “the raping of the Constitution” among her top issues. She also declined to give her age.

Bernard Bundyk, 83, of South Orange, said he is voting for “the other guy,” echoing McCain’s use of the term “that one” for Obama. “Everything that has taken place I want changed. Okay? I don’t like this business in Iraq. McCain is a quick-draw guy. He wants to go to war. He wants to attack Iran. I’ve had enough of that,” he said.

Another South Orange resident, Hal Sterling, also 83, placed health care, the environment, Iraq, and Social Security on his list of important issues. His wife, Elaine, who declined to give her age, added abortion and the appointment of Supreme Court justices to the list. Both registered Democrats, he has never voted Republican, while she has.

At the other end of the age divide, Eric Lang of Maplewood, at 56 the youngest of the interviewees, is voting for Obama based on “the economy and the fact that he’s a man of integrity, and McCain is an idiot.” Lang said he is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who, when asked if he would consider voting Republican, said, “Never have, never will.”

Another registered Democrat, Jim Vance, 59, of Summit, volunteered that he has voted Republican — once, for Barry Goldwater. His concerns: the Supreme Court and foreign policy.

Finally, Nan Greenwald, Howard’s wife, is a registered Democrat who said she just wants “a change from the Bush world.”

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ISO Jewish husband

SINGLE AND in her 50s, Maureen Dowd reminded the audience at Temple B’nai Abraham that on her two trips to Jerusalem, she inserted her own prayers into the crevices in the Western Wall, asking God to “send me a Jewish husband. But so far nothing has happened.”

She certainly wasn’t going to find one in Wasilla, Alaska. When she went there to learn what she could about Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Dowd said, she quickly became familiar with a common quip among the local single women: “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”

During the question-and-answer period following her talk, a man who identified himself as “a middle-aged Jewish man” said, “I had a little argument with my wife on the way here, so if things don’t work out….”

Roars of laughter, including Dowd’s own, drowned out the rest of his sentence.

— JOHANNA GINSBERG

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