U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama (Reuters)
Jan 29, 2008
Haaretz
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: U.S., Barack Obama, Israel
U.S. presidential hopeful speaks to Jewish newspapers, Haaretz to dispel accusations of anti-patriotism.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Monday that there is a "constant virulent campaign" being waged against him as he strives to win the party's nomination, aimed particularly at weakening support for him from within the Jewish community.
Obama told Haaretz and writers from several Jewish-American newspapers that the campaign against him - calling him Muslim and accusing him of not pledging allegiance to the United States - is especially visible in the Jewish community.
The presidential hopeful said he would ordinarily ignore such comments, but he fears that they have been "getting some traction" and are being tuned into by public ears.
Thus he said, he has asked the Jewish newspapers and Haaretz to use their "megaphone" so people can hear "from the horse's mouth" that all such accusations against him are unfounded.
Speaking to the Jewish community
Two days ago, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, a group of Jews met for a relaxed Sunday morning coffee. They spoke about the quality of the pastries, a bit about the weather, and someone talked about a film he has seen. "Politics?!" They were bemused.
Bobby Ginsburg, a slim, slightly hunched man, removed his glasses to wipe them. Yes, he said, but there's two days left, do we really have to talk about it now? Of the six people present only four will bother to vote - for Hillary Clinton - in the upcoming primaries. The primaries are completely symbolic - Florida has no say in the Democratic nominations.
Clinton came to Florida two days ago for a low-key fundraiser. It hasn't really been her week - straight after her defeat in South Carolina, the Kennedy family was quick to show their support of Obama.
Still, after domesticating a big fish like the Kennedy family, Obama is working hard to give the same treatment to smaller fish.
One of his biggest Jewish supporters, Lee Rosenberg, was sent on Obama's behalf to the former Israeli ambassador Danny Ayalon to find out why the latter wrote an article slamming the presidential hopeful - an article which raised hell in the Israeli diplomatic circles.
Rosenberg is a member of AIPAC's board of governors, and his support of Obama is the candidate's ultimate ammunition against whoever tries to question his pro-Israel sentiments.
While Ayalon said he had been misquoted, he nonetheless maintains that Obama's inexperience in foreign affairs is a problem. Rosenberg urged him to become more familiar with the candidate and his history, and said he's happy to send him information. Ayalon said he was under the impression that there were no hard feelings.
On Monday, Obama took his campaign into his own hands and summoned representatives of the Jewish community for a long conversation, to remind them of his many Jewish supporters - particularly from his home state of Illinois - and of his abhorrence for any display of anti-Semitism.
He also reminded the representatives - Jewish-American correspondents and this Haaretz correspondent - of his speech on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in which he called on African-Americans to shake off the anti-Semitic sentiment prevailing within their community.
He also took the chance to distance himself - again - from the radical anti-Semitic black activist Louis Farrakhan, who was lauded by the head of Obama's church last year as being a man who "truly epitomized greatness" and awarded the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award.
In Obama's words, the decision of his church leader, Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., to bestow that honor on Farrakhan was a "mistake of judgement."
Israel as a 'Jewish state'
With regard to his policy on Israel, Obama repeated his established position, which has already been distorted into countless different versions.
Obama believes in Israel "as a Jewish state." He does not accept that a right of return for Palestinians can be interpreted "in any literal way."
He opposes talks with Hamas as long as the Islamist organization refuses to recognize Israel.
And yes - he believes in a two state solution for two nations, but only as long as Israel has "security" that the Palestinians will not only sign a final agreement, but also actualize it.
No state, he said, would accept the reality of rockets striking civilians on a daily basis.
Until the security is returned, he said, it will be difficult "to move forward."
Regarding Iran, Obama is in favor of the "carrot and stick" approach. While he supports continuing the sanctions, he still wishes to insist on reminding the Islamic country of the benefits it could be entitled to if it returned to the straight and narrow path.
Campaign of delegitimization
The campaign against Obama has been likened - in an interesting comparison - to the sleaze campaign waged in South Carolina against John McCain in 2000.
There, George W. Bush's camp tried to delegitimize McCain among conservative Christian voters, by disseminating rumors and half-truths about him.
McCain, who came out victorious in South Carolina last week, has clearly gotten over this trauma. Now he's facing another tough competition, this time against Mitt Romney in Florida, a race which looks very tight.
A few fanatics came Monday at 6 A.M. to see Romney briefly near the Palm Beach airport. Despite his sunken eyes, Romney is warming up quickly. Florida's 57 delegates are awaiting the voters' verdict, and Romney wants to get them on board, mainly to halt McCain's gravy train, or at least slow it down.
With the airtime he has bought, which only he can afford, he won't let go of McCain's soft spot: the economy. Romney can be seen in the campaign adverts, his grey hair blowing slightly in the wind, promising to "fix" everything.
In any case, whether he wins or loses, he is going ahead to next week's Super Tuesday. And he's not alone - Rudy Giuliani made the same promise last week. Giuliani arranged his campaign around a Florida victory, and he continues to believe, or at least pretends to believe, that he can do it.
And if Florida is lost, so may be New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut next week. Jewish voters will influence the results in these states, but to a lesser extent than the former New York mayor would like: after all, most Jews cast their votes in the Democratic Party primaries.
