JTA Election Central

According to a piece in today’s New York Times, Barack Obama may have been bending so far backwards to reassure voters that he’s not a closet Muslim that he has offended, well, Muslims. Obama has even kept Washington’s sole Muslim lawmaker, Keith Ellison, at arm’s length.
The Times reports:

While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, [...]

Some months back JTA sought an interview with Barack Obama’s controversial ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright. We were told by Trinity United Church of Christ that the pastor wasn’t giving interviews. Well, Wright is staying quiet no longer.
On Sunday night, he got a standing ovation from 10,000 attendees at an NAACP dinner in Detroit (video here).
Last [...]

In his continuing effort to put the issues of his controversial pastor to rest, Barack Obama took a different tack when he spoke Wednesday from the pulpit of a Philadelphia synagogue, downplaying the role of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his life.
“He was my pastor,” Obama said, dismissing the notion frequently put forward that [...]

Last night Barack Obama reminded us why some hawkish pro-Israel folks prefer Hillary Clinton.
Asked whether he would extend American deterrence to Israel, Obama, carefully crafting his words, promised “appropriate action” in the event of an Iranian attack:
As I’ve said before, I think it is very important that Iran understands that an attack on [...]

New Jersey Congressman Steve Rothman came out in support of a blind rabbi’s bid for congress this week. Dennis Shulman has racked up a string of endorsements in recent weeks — including former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark and recently sworn in New York Governor David Paterson — and was the subject of a recent [...]

The controversy about Obama’s foreign policy advisers continues. The New York Sun reports that Zbigniew Brzezinski, an adviser to Barack Obama, is en route to Damascus at the helm of a delegation from the RAND Corporation.
Brzezinski, who was Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor, is considered cool to Israel, and he was cited in [...]

Ron Kampeas just filed a brief about Steve Cohen, the Tennessee congressman who once again finds himself on the receiving end of anti-Semitic invective. Even worse, his opponent in the Democratic primary won’t condemn it.
A Tennessee congressional candidate has declined to disavow a flier saying the incumbent and the Jews hate Jesus.
The flier, which [...]

Hillary Clinton took 60 percent of the Jewish vote in the Maryland primary. Here’s the JTA brief about the breakdown:
Hillary Clinton won 60 percent of the Jewish vote in Maryland’s Democratic primary, but Barack Obama won overall.
Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) was the choice of virtually every other religious group polled, and he easily won the state [...]

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich denied an Internet rumor that Jewish officials had offered to help him win re-election if he dropped impeachment efforts against President Bush.
The rumor, which has gained traction in recent days on left-wing blogs, alleges that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [...]

The AP is reporting that the Democrats are floating the idea of caucuses in Florida and Michigan as a way to resolve the standoff over whether their delegates will count in the nominating contest. State party reps say the proposal is nothing new, and they’re sticking with the results of their votes. Clinton won Florida [...]