11 notes on Lieberman vs. Lamont
Rosner's Blog
Shmuel Rosner Chief U.S. Correspondent 7. The Jewish community - in the broader sense of this term - does not necessarily support Lieberman. The stories you might have heard or read about Jewish activists rushing to help him might be true, but these people represent, at best, the more established, organized, old guard community. Among Lamont's people there are a lot of young, angry, idealistic, Jewish supporters who grew sick and tired of the war and don't really care about the candidate's religious affiliation.
8. Mark Silk of Trinity College, with whom I spoke today, says there's no data on this issue, but estimates that Lieberman and Lamont split the Jewish vote "fifty percent - fifty percent."
9. Naturally, the more established fifty percent is the one giving the money. Hence, Lieberman probably got more "Jewish money" than Lamont. "But young Jews do tend to get older eventually," one of Lamont's supporters told me, promising that in a couple of years the direction of money being channeled will also change.
10. The fact that young Jews vote Lamont can be seen as a good sign, really. Lieberman will always be "the first Jewish candidate on a major national ticket," a feat for which he has already earned his place in history. But if one opposes mixing state and religion in an unhealthy way, he should be thrilled to see these Jewish voters feel confident enough to vote their conscience rather than their tribe, notwithstanding other good reasons not to vote for Lamont.
11. There's even some intriguing irony to this story. Lieberman, who was chosen to be the vice-Presidential nominee six years ago, proved that being Jewish was not too heavy a burden in today's America and that political parties no longer fear having a Jewish candidate will scare people away from the ticket. But, now, one can see the other side of this same equation: A Jewish candidate - even a high profile Jew like Lieberman - does not necessarily bring the Jewish vote on board.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=742649&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1
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