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Casting their votes, expressing opinions
BY: Rick Perloff Special to the CJN
The Hillary sign that Steve Rosen mounted in the front yard of his Beachwood home before the March Ohio primary is long gone, replaced by a sign promoting Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
“My feeling is that we have had almost eight years of lack of planning and leadership. Americans are eager to be led, and Obama seems to have the ability to inspire people and lead them,” notes Rosen, a marketing specialist and businessman.
Dr. Brian Berman, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University, views the Democratic standard-bearer much differently. “Obama claims he has the capacity and the will to unite America, as opposed to promote division in America. I scratch my head and say, ‘What is he smoking or drinking?’ He has the most liberal voting record in the Senate.”
Sammy Kay confesses he is in a quandary. “This may be the first time I won’t vote for either candidate,” he confides, as he pores over cash register receipts one evening at his restaurant, The Original Harvey’s Barbecue. “Every time I listen to John McCain, he scares me more. McCain says he knows how to win a war. I want someone who knows how not to go to war or to get us out of war.” But Kay, who harbors a strong Democratic ideology, also is troubled by Obama’s lack of experience.
With the presidential election campaign in high gear, Cleveland’s Jewish community is collectively more ambivalent about the Democratic candidate than in years past. While staunch Democrats enthusiastically support Sen. Obama and staunch Republicans back Sen. McCain, a number of Jewish voters are undecided, looking for ways to resolve contradictory feelings about the candidates.
Over the past month, I interviewed more than 40 Jewish men and women of all denominations and ages, chatting with them over breakfast at Corky & Lenny’s and Jack’s Deli, approaching them at the Jewish Community Center, and talking by phone to people active in either the Republican or Democratic party, as well as to long-time community residents
The constellation of feelings many Democrats expressed about the candidates n respect for Obama’s oratorical skills, concern about his inexperience, and wariness of McCain n comport with national opinion poll data. Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of`Applied Politics at The University of Akron, says there is “skepticism about Obama in the Jewish community outside Chicago. They don’t feel they know him. In contrast, Jews are pretty clear where John McCain stands. There is appreciation, not agreement.”
A Gallup poll taken this spring found that 61% of Jews supported Obama and 32% backed McCain. A more recent national survey conducted by the liberal Jewish organization J Street reported that 58% of American Jews definitely supported Obama, compared with 29% who definitely favored McCain. According to Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, the Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, “that certainly signifies some problems for the Obama camp. Traditionally, a Democratic candidate ought to be able to get 75% or better of the Jewish vote, and those who get substantially less than that usually don’t win. The reason is not that Jews are so powerful; Jews are like canaries in the coal mine. The poll certainly shows that Mr. Obama has work to do in the Jewish community.”
Joel Ratner, president of a philanthropic foundation, has campaigned for Obama. “Jews tend to be very independent thinkers,” he says. “Obama is new on the scene, and there is a lot of concern about him vis-à-vis Israel. I think some of that is based on his short experience, and I think some is based on misinformation.” (See sidebar.)
The Web is full of Jewish chatter about the candidates. There are Jews for Obama and Jews Against Obama websites, a fissure that Dr. Green finds historically unprecedented. The Jewish blogosphere is a hodgepodge, running the gamut from thoughtful articles ruminating about the candidates’ issues to emotional commentaries debating whether Obama is good or bad for the Jews.
A number of people I spoke with, including attorney Jon Steiger, said they had received e-mails lambasting Obama.
Lenore and Harry Koppel, married 57 years, frequently cancel each other’s vote: Lenore votes Democratic, Harry Republican. But this year both share similar concerns about the Democratic standard-bearer, particularly on the subject of Israel. Lenore says Obama flip-flops and does not understand Israel’s predicament; Harry says he has “surrounded himself with experts who are less than favorable to Israel.”
Going beyond the Israel question, Lenore admits she’s “on the horns of a dilemma. Unless Obama articulates a thoughtful, analytical program, I will be unable to vote for him. I also will be unable to vote for a Republican for president, partly because I have serious concerns about the future of the Supreme Court. That’s a very important one for me. So, where am I then?”
Dr. Alan Rosenthal, a pediatrician, acknowledges that Obama “talks a good game when it comes to Israel. I have no reason to doubt him. But it’s a little perilous to blindly trust someone with no experience when there are leaders who want to wipe us off the map.”
Aaron David Miller offers a different approach. Miller, who grew up in Cleveland, has served as an adviser to six U.S. secretaries of state and is the author of the highly-acclaimed book The Much Too Promised Land: America’s elusive search for Arab-Israeli peace. “The debate is over,” Miller declares. “U.S. support for the security and survival of Israel has become a core American interest. It has become ingrained in our psychology, politics and culture. The relationship is not going to change, frankly, whether it is President Obama or President McCain.”
He adds that “concerns that an Obama presidency is going to shortchange or sell Israel down the river is worse than nonsense. It undermines Israel’s own credibility and even imposes a certain loyalty test that on every issue the American president must be 100% behind the Israelis.” These concerns arise from Jews’ tendency to worry, what Miller calls a “cosmic Oy Vey.”
To Harold Males, a retired high-school teacher and editor, the issue is simple: Obama has an amorphous position on Israel and fails to measure up.
Attorney Tom Warren is of another mind. Warren heard Obama address Jewish leaders here shortly before the March primary and thinks Obama has an ideal temperament to address problems in the Middle East. “He has a preternatural calm. I was tremendously impressed with his character and intellect. I understood his position on Israel to be identical with Hillary Clinton and McCain.”
Some Jewish opponents of Obama say they were alarmed by his statement that, if elected, he would meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who made a speech widely interpreted as calling for the annihilation of Israel.
But Jon Berliner, who just received his bachelor’s degree in political science from The Ohio State University and is embarking on a teaching career, offers another view. “Especially in insulated Jewish communities, there is this idea that if you say anything negative against Israel, it means you’re anti-Israel or pro-Palestine,” he says. “I don’t believe that. I don’t necessarily believe that everything the Israeli government or the Israeli people say is in the best interest of their country or the world.”
Elections are not decided entirely on the basis of issues. Voters also make judgments about a candidate’s character, integrity, and experience. Some Jewish voters like Fran Doris extol Obama, praising his leadership style and openness to new ideas. Others, like Lenore Koppel, lament that he has failed to articulate a specific program for change. And still others, like Dr. Alan Rosenthal, emphasize that McCain comes closer to their position on core issues like Israel and U.S. security.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Obama and McCain supporters perceive their candidates’ shortcomings through different lenses. They tend to be critical of the opponent’s flip-flopping, while finding ways to explain perceived waffling of their preferred candidate.
When asked if his favored candidate, Sen. McCain, had flip-flopped on issues such as changing his position on off-shore oil drilling, Berman responded, “McCain has a multi-decade track record. At least when he alters his posture or shifts direction, it is on the basis of multi-year patterns of behavior in the public sector and great integrity.”
I asked Steve Rosen, an Obama supporter, whether he thought Obama had flip-flopped on issues, such as changing his position on accepting public campaign financing. “It’s not that he’s doing a 180,” insisted Rosen. “To me, if a person, when presented with new evidence, can’t change his mind, there’s something dangerous there.”
Or, as political scientist Dr. Martin Plax points out, candidates in both parties have to shift positions to appeal to broad constituencies. It’s … politics.
Brandeis’s Sarna notes that the Jewish vote is politically consequential because, traditionally, Jewish turnout is heavy and Jews live in states of strategic significance, such as Ohio and Florida. Yet Susan Marder speaks for lots of Jewish Clevelanders when she says, “I haven’t closed the door. I haven’t made a decision one way or the other.”
Perloff, a frequent contributor to the CJN, is a professor and director of the School of Communication at Cleveland State University. He appreciates the time many people spent sharing their views of the campaign.
Perceptions and misconceptions
People base voting decisions on intangibles, like which candidate passes the “gut test.” Some voters I spoke with felt a vague discontentment with Obama, an amorphous dissatisfaction. In their view, it stemmed from reservations about his background. However, others countered that the emotional angst had its basis in myths and campaign misinformation.
Susan Marder, a mental health counselor, for example, is “concerned not so much about Obama the man, but the influences he might be subjected to from Muslims. I know he was brought up as a Christian, but both his father and stepfather were Muslim, and there has to be some influence there,” she maintains. Although she also has serious reservations about McCain, she is “haunted” by her concerns about Obama.
Chuck Price, a retired automobile dealer, shared his views of the candidates over eggs and toast at Corky & Lenny’s one Sunday. “I don’t think he (Obama) would come to the aid of Israel, especially with his Arab background, as quickly as another candidate would,” he says. “He went to a Muslim school when he was a kid, when he was living with his father. He has a Muslim name. It’s part of your family, part of your upbringing. If there’s one seed of doubt, I’d rather be wrong than be right and have him go against us or go against Israel.”
Insight Magazine last year published a story claiming that, when Obama was living in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971 with his stepfather and mother, he attended a Muslim religious school, a madrassa, committed to teaching a fundamentalist view of Islam. Although the story was widely reported, it turned out to be false. CNN showed that the school Obama attended was a secular public school.
Obama supporters are also quick to point out misconceptions about Obama’s foreign policy advisers. They note that Zbigniew Brzezinski, who has aroused the ire of some Jews because he has taken controversial positions regarding Israel, does not advise Obama on foreign policy matters. Indeed, Obama said so himself in an interview published in the Feb. 28 CJN. Even so, more conservative voters remain suspicious. They suggest that Obama’s foreign policy retinue includes other advisers, such as Dennis Ross, whom they regard as unsympathetic with Israel’s long-term interests.
Concerned about misinformation frequently conveyed via the Internet, Tom Warren, the Cleveland attorney, says “these are things that concern me most. For a Jew to question that because he (Obama) has some Muslim blood in him, that this is a problem, is highly disturbing. As Jews, we need to be particularly careful to judge people by the content of their character.”
nR. Perloff
All the Wright stuff
Another issue that resonates with some Jewish voters n while disturbing others n is the controversy involving the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Obama’s former pastor. Wright delivered a number of blistering criticisms of American society from his pulpit, and the images were replayed for weeks on television and YouTube. Obama was caught in the middle, torn between support for his pastor and a desire to detach himself from Wright’s sermons.
“If my rabbi were out there saying things that were inappropriate time after time, I’d be gone” more quickly than Obama was, remarked Saul Eisen, a long-time Beachwood resident and member of Beachwood City Council.
“Why did it take political pressure, the threat of losing primary election votes, before he denounced his pastor?” adds Dr. Brian Berman.
“I think it says something if you let your kids, be influenced by someone who has such negative feelings towards Jewish people and towards Americans,” worries Alana Oif, who will be entering Ohio State University in the fall. She supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Ohio primary.
Pushing her 1-year-old daughter in a stroller in front of the Jewish Community Center, Gerette Braunsdorf did not find fault with Obama. “Even though we attend a certain church or temple, we don’t necessarily 100% agree with everything (our spiritual leaders) are saying. Rev. Wright is just a loudmouth. He suddenly had the world stage because he was Obama’s minister, and I think he just decided, ‘I’m going for it.’”
Rabbi Steven Denker of Temple Emanu El (Reform), who as early as January warned his congregants of malicious information that had been circulated about Obama, is appalled that the story resonates with Jews. “Rev. Wright is not running for president. Barack Obama is. This is one sound bite from a sermon in a 40-year career. Continuing to repeat that issue is scurrilous stuff. It is unworthy of American political discourse.”
The huge issues facing this country, he adds, are much more important than what a retired black minister said in 30 seconds of a 40-year career.
nR. Perloff
“My feeling is that we have had almost eight years of lack of planning and leadership. Americans are eager to be led, and Obama seems to have the ability to inspire people and lead them,” notes Rosen, a marketing specialist and businessman.
Dr. Brian Berman, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University, views the Democratic standard-bearer much differently. “Obama claims he has the capacity and the will to unite America, as opposed to promote division in America. I scratch my head and say, ‘What is he smoking or drinking?’ He has the most liberal voting record in the Senate.”
Sammy Kay confesses he is in a quandary. “This may be the first time I won’t vote for either candidate,” he confides, as he pores over cash register receipts one evening at his restaurant, The Original Harvey’s Barbecue. “Every time I listen to John McCain, he scares me more. McCain says he knows how to win a war. I want someone who knows how not to go to war or to get us out of war.” But Kay, who harbors a strong Democratic ideology, also is troubled by Obama’s lack of experience.
With the presidential election campaign in high gear, Cleveland’s Jewish community is collectively more ambivalent about the Democratic candidate than in years past. While staunch Democrats enthusiastically support Sen. Obama and staunch Republicans back Sen. McCain, a number of Jewish voters are undecided, looking for ways to resolve contradictory feelings about the candidates.
Over the past month, I interviewed more than 40 Jewish men and women of all denominations and ages, chatting with them over breakfast at Corky & Lenny’s and Jack’s Deli, approaching them at the Jewish Community Center, and talking by phone to people active in either the Republican or Democratic party, as well as to long-time community residents
The constellation of feelings many Democrats expressed about the candidates n respect for Obama’s oratorical skills, concern about his inexperience, and wariness of McCain n comport with national opinion poll data. Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of`Applied Politics at The University of Akron, says there is “skepticism about Obama in the Jewish community outside Chicago. They don’t feel they know him. In contrast, Jews are pretty clear where John McCain stands. There is appreciation, not agreement.”
A Gallup poll taken this spring found that 61% of Jews supported Obama and 32% backed McCain. A more recent national survey conducted by the liberal Jewish organization J Street reported that 58% of American Jews definitely supported Obama, compared with 29% who definitely favored McCain. According to Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, the Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, “that certainly signifies some problems for the Obama camp. Traditionally, a Democratic candidate ought to be able to get 75% or better of the Jewish vote, and those who get substantially less than that usually don’t win. The reason is not that Jews are so powerful; Jews are like canaries in the coal mine. The poll certainly shows that Mr. Obama has work to do in the Jewish community.”
Joel Ratner, president of a philanthropic foundation, has campaigned for Obama. “Jews tend to be very independent thinkers,” he says. “Obama is new on the scene, and there is a lot of concern about him vis-à-vis Israel. I think some of that is based on his short experience, and I think some is based on misinformation.” (See sidebar.)
The Web is full of Jewish chatter about the candidates. There are Jews for Obama and Jews Against Obama websites, a fissure that Dr. Green finds historically unprecedented. The Jewish blogosphere is a hodgepodge, running the gamut from thoughtful articles ruminating about the candidates’ issues to emotional commentaries debating whether Obama is good or bad for the Jews.
A number of people I spoke with, including attorney Jon Steiger, said they had received e-mails lambasting Obama.
Lenore and Harry Koppel, married 57 years, frequently cancel each other’s vote: Lenore votes Democratic, Harry Republican. But this year both share similar concerns about the Democratic standard-bearer, particularly on the subject of Israel. Lenore says Obama flip-flops and does not understand Israel’s predicament; Harry says he has “surrounded himself with experts who are less than favorable to Israel.”
Going beyond the Israel question, Lenore admits she’s “on the horns of a dilemma. Unless Obama articulates a thoughtful, analytical program, I will be unable to vote for him. I also will be unable to vote for a Republican for president, partly because I have serious concerns about the future of the Supreme Court. That’s a very important one for me. So, where am I then?”
Dr. Alan Rosenthal, a pediatrician, acknowledges that Obama “talks a good game when it comes to Israel. I have no reason to doubt him. But it’s a little perilous to blindly trust someone with no experience when there are leaders who want to wipe us off the map.”
Aaron David Miller offers a different approach. Miller, who grew up in Cleveland, has served as an adviser to six U.S. secretaries of state and is the author of the highly-acclaimed book The Much Too Promised Land: America’s elusive search for Arab-Israeli peace. “The debate is over,” Miller declares. “U.S. support for the security and survival of Israel has become a core American interest. It has become ingrained in our psychology, politics and culture. The relationship is not going to change, frankly, whether it is President Obama or President McCain.”
He adds that “concerns that an Obama presidency is going to shortchange or sell Israel down the river is worse than nonsense. It undermines Israel’s own credibility and even imposes a certain loyalty test that on every issue the American president must be 100% behind the Israelis.” These concerns arise from Jews’ tendency to worry, what Miller calls a “cosmic Oy Vey.”
To Harold Males, a retired high-school teacher and editor, the issue is simple: Obama has an amorphous position on Israel and fails to measure up.
Attorney Tom Warren is of another mind. Warren heard Obama address Jewish leaders here shortly before the March primary and thinks Obama has an ideal temperament to address problems in the Middle East. “He has a preternatural calm. I was tremendously impressed with his character and intellect. I understood his position on Israel to be identical with Hillary Clinton and McCain.”
Some Jewish opponents of Obama say they were alarmed by his statement that, if elected, he would meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who made a speech widely interpreted as calling for the annihilation of Israel.
But Jon Berliner, who just received his bachelor’s degree in political science from The Ohio State University and is embarking on a teaching career, offers another view. “Especially in insulated Jewish communities, there is this idea that if you say anything negative against Israel, it means you’re anti-Israel or pro-Palestine,” he says. “I don’t believe that. I don’t necessarily believe that everything the Israeli government or the Israeli people say is in the best interest of their country or the world.”
Elections are not decided entirely on the basis of issues. Voters also make judgments about a candidate’s character, integrity, and experience. Some Jewish voters like Fran Doris extol Obama, praising his leadership style and openness to new ideas. Others, like Lenore Koppel, lament that he has failed to articulate a specific program for change. And still others, like Dr. Alan Rosenthal, emphasize that McCain comes closer to their position on core issues like Israel and U.S. security.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Obama and McCain supporters perceive their candidates’ shortcomings through different lenses. They tend to be critical of the opponent’s flip-flopping, while finding ways to explain perceived waffling of their preferred candidate.
When asked if his favored candidate, Sen. McCain, had flip-flopped on issues such as changing his position on off-shore oil drilling, Berman responded, “McCain has a multi-decade track record. At least when he alters his posture or shifts direction, it is on the basis of multi-year patterns of behavior in the public sector and great integrity.”
I asked Steve Rosen, an Obama supporter, whether he thought Obama had flip-flopped on issues, such as changing his position on accepting public campaign financing. “It’s not that he’s doing a 180,” insisted Rosen. “To me, if a person, when presented with new evidence, can’t change his mind, there’s something dangerous there.”
Or, as political scientist Dr. Martin Plax points out, candidates in both parties have to shift positions to appeal to broad constituencies. It’s … politics.
Brandeis’s Sarna notes that the Jewish vote is politically consequential because, traditionally, Jewish turnout is heavy and Jews live in states of strategic significance, such as Ohio and Florida. Yet Susan Marder speaks for lots of Jewish Clevelanders when she says, “I haven’t closed the door. I haven’t made a decision one way or the other.”
Perloff, a frequent contributor to the CJN, is a professor and director of the School of Communication at Cleveland State University. He appreciates the time many people spent sharing their views of the campaign.
Perceptions and misconceptions
People base voting decisions on intangibles, like which candidate passes the “gut test.” Some voters I spoke with felt a vague discontentment with Obama, an amorphous dissatisfaction. In their view, it stemmed from reservations about his background. However, others countered that the emotional angst had its basis in myths and campaign misinformation.
Susan Marder, a mental health counselor, for example, is “concerned not so much about Obama the man, but the influences he might be subjected to from Muslims. I know he was brought up as a Christian, but both his father and stepfather were Muslim, and there has to be some influence there,” she maintains. Although she also has serious reservations about McCain, she is “haunted” by her concerns about Obama.
Chuck Price, a retired automobile dealer, shared his views of the candidates over eggs and toast at Corky & Lenny’s one Sunday. “I don’t think he (Obama) would come to the aid of Israel, especially with his Arab background, as quickly as another candidate would,” he says. “He went to a Muslim school when he was a kid, when he was living with his father. He has a Muslim name. It’s part of your family, part of your upbringing. If there’s one seed of doubt, I’d rather be wrong than be right and have him go against us or go against Israel.”
Insight Magazine last year published a story claiming that, when Obama was living in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971 with his stepfather and mother, he attended a Muslim religious school, a madrassa, committed to teaching a fundamentalist view of Islam. Although the story was widely reported, it turned out to be false. CNN showed that the school Obama attended was a secular public school.
Obama supporters are also quick to point out misconceptions about Obama’s foreign policy advisers. They note that Zbigniew Brzezinski, who has aroused the ire of some Jews because he has taken controversial positions regarding Israel, does not advise Obama on foreign policy matters. Indeed, Obama said so himself in an interview published in the Feb. 28 CJN. Even so, more conservative voters remain suspicious. They suggest that Obama’s foreign policy retinue includes other advisers, such as Dennis Ross, whom they regard as unsympathetic with Israel’s long-term interests.
Concerned about misinformation frequently conveyed via the Internet, Tom Warren, the Cleveland attorney, says “these are things that concern me most. For a Jew to question that because he (Obama) has some Muslim blood in him, that this is a problem, is highly disturbing. As Jews, we need to be particularly careful to judge people by the content of their character.”
nR. Perloff
All the Wright stuff
Another issue that resonates with some Jewish voters n while disturbing others n is the controversy involving the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Obama’s former pastor. Wright delivered a number of blistering criticisms of American society from his pulpit, and the images were replayed for weeks on television and YouTube. Obama was caught in the middle, torn between support for his pastor and a desire to detach himself from Wright’s sermons.
“If my rabbi were out there saying things that were inappropriate time after time, I’d be gone” more quickly than Obama was, remarked Saul Eisen, a long-time Beachwood resident and member of Beachwood City Council.
“Why did it take political pressure, the threat of losing primary election votes, before he denounced his pastor?” adds Dr. Brian Berman.
“I think it says something if you let your kids, be influenced by someone who has such negative feelings towards Jewish people and towards Americans,” worries Alana Oif, who will be entering Ohio State University in the fall. She supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Ohio primary.
Pushing her 1-year-old daughter in a stroller in front of the Jewish Community Center, Gerette Braunsdorf did not find fault with Obama. “Even though we attend a certain church or temple, we don’t necessarily 100% agree with everything (our spiritual leaders) are saying. Rev. Wright is just a loudmouth. He suddenly had the world stage because he was Obama’s minister, and I think he just decided, ‘I’m going for it.’”
Rabbi Steven Denker of Temple Emanu El (Reform), who as early as January warned his congregants of malicious information that had been circulated about Obama, is appalled that the story resonates with Jews. “Rev. Wright is not running for president. Barack Obama is. This is one sound bite from a sermon in a 40-year career. Continuing to repeat that issue is scurrilous stuff. It is unworthy of American political discourse.”
The huge issues facing this country, he adds, are much more important than what a retired black minister said in 30 seconds of a 40-year career.
nR. Perloff
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