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Aug
20
As Barack Obama gets ready to roll out his running mate, Jewish political insiders and activists say they would welcome any of the three most talked about possibilities.
Some say Sen. Joseph Biden’s (D-Del.) extensive experience on foreign policy issues makes him a big favorite among pro-Israel activists, but others prefer Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as a solid, appealing choice. And while some Jewish Democrats admit they aren’t too familiar with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), they say reports of his good relations with the Virginia Jewish community reassure them.
“I have not heard a single name that has caused conternation” or is considered a problem, said Steve Rabinowitz, a Democratic political consultant who often works on Jewish issues.
Read the rest for more analysis (I’m in the Biden camp).
NB1: The author, Eric Fingerhut, is not the Ohio Chancellor but a different Eric Fingerhut (which is why I removed the author’s name from the title line).
NB2: I can safely add that regular plain Israelis, Arab and Jew and Druze, also have no preference, in general, between John McCain and Obama. I heard from people all along the spectrum and this sentiment was pretty unanimous.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:06 am August 20th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Elections, Jewish, John McCain, Politics, Vice President, Voting
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4 Responses to “No clear-cut favorite for Dem VP among Jewish activists”
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I’ve been a Biden fan for many years and think he’d be great. I’ve interviewed him several times and really liked him as a person, too. I totally agree with you, in other words. (as is so often true….)
Thanks for the support on that, Cynthia. I met Biden at the Ohio Dem. Party state dinner in 2006 (where I got to interview Obama with several other Ohio bloggers) and was very impressed by him both one on one, in the small group setting (he gave a presentation and Q/A before the dinner) and in his speech to the dinner attendees. I thought he did great in almost all of the primary debates and, as you may remember, my choice to not support him more actively during the primary has led me to make sure that I don’t ever do that again - that is, not show more obvious support when there’s someone, even an underdog, who I do like because otherwise, you get stuck with candidates you don’t really support but will vote for anyway and I don’t like how that feels.
I watched a couple hours of Joe Biden working the crowds at home on C-span in support of a US Rep candidate (whose name escapes me) and the guy is the consumate pro. He does retail politics in a manner that any candidate would envy. In regard to VP I have no dog in the fight.
As a secondary note, I have no idea why support of Israel beyond what any putative ally receives is in the National interest. That isn’t a suggestion of throwing Israel to the wolves, but neither is it some blanket support. Their policies certainly are not blanket support of the US, but rather reflective of their interests.