• A left-wing blogger quotes a congressional candidate as saying she’s being bullied by AIPAC types. The next day the candidate’s house burns down. Somebody call Mearsheimer & Walt (alternative punch line: Jimmy Carter has volunteered to rebuild the house).
• The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue that Barack Obama’s “fraudulent” faith-based initiative will be bad for the Catholics — and Orthodox Jews. The Orthodox Union isn’t so sure (though it has similar concerns).
• The state lobbyist heading up John McCain’s campaign in Palm Beach County is ‘Jewish with a capital J.’
• A writer in the Jerusalem Post explains how a nice Jewish boy ended up with the same name as “a nice political superstar who is named after his Muslim father and is himself a long time member of the ‘Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian’ Trinity United Church of Christ.”
• Ira Forman (National Jewish Democratic Council) in HuffPo: When it comes to Iran, McCain speaks loudly and carries a small stick.
• The NJDC may have picked a bad time to paint McCain as a flip-flopper.
• Obama courts Hollywood Jews.
• The L.A. Jewish Journal has a Podcast on the Iranian Jewish vote.

• Jake Tapper of ABC News debunks latest right-wing claim that Obama was raised as a Muslim.
• But, Tapper’s scoop was quickly overshadowed by this gem from Ben Smith of Politico: “Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.” (If only the Obama campaign hadn’t offered such a strong apology, maybe the Democratic candidate could have improved his image with some conservative pundits.)
• Obama Mideast adviser Daniel Kurtzer says the candidate “misused” a codeword when he said Jerusalem should remain undivided — but insists the candidate is not naive.
• Fine, then it’s a flop flop, says the Republican Jewish Coalition.
• The National Jewish Democratic Council rounds up material about McCain aides who lobbied/traded with Iran.
• The Jewish Press, a pro-settlements New York-based Orthodox newspaper, notes that McCain’s position on Jerusalem is essentially the same as Obama’s — and raises some concerns about the Arizona senator.
• Writing in Salon, Walter Shapiro makes the case for the McCain-Lieberman ticket.
• Shmuel Rosner of Ha’aretz wonders how many Jews will be in the next Congress (lucky for him, in the Internet era, he can keep up with this stuff even after he moves back to Israel — because counting Jews in the Knesset just isn’t the same).

From Quinnipiac:

• Florida: Obama edges McCain 47 - 43 percent
• Ohio: Obama tops McCain 48 - 42 percent
• Pennsylvania: Obama leads McCain 52 - 40 percent

Click here for more details.

Hey, you like Eric Cantory? Think he’d make a good Veep?

Well, look what just came across the transom:

News from info {at} ericcantorforvp(.)com

For more information contact: info {at} ericcantorforvp(.)com

Conservatives Launch Grassroots Campaign to Influence McCain

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA (06/17/2008; 1116)(readMedia)– A group of politically unaffiliated concerned Americans have come together to make a serious effort to change the course of the national debate. Their launch statement is below:

“Today, we are launching a grassroots movement (you know that phenomenon conservatives use to lead but the Left now excels at) to convince John McCain to select a dynamic young conservative to be his running mate. Instead of waiting around for McCain’s brain trust to make a choice this project is promoting a movement conservative (Representative Eric Cantor) who is pro-American, pro-Israel, pro-life, pro-markets, pro-family. He comes from a key battleground state and region. He is Jewish and has demonstrated he can win over non-Jewish votes.

Several Main Stream Media news outlets (the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, NY Post, etc.) have noted Congressman Cantor’s assets. Now we are using the Internet to launch a grassroots movement that will provide a platform for the millions of Americans to support a dynamic, young Republican-Conservative leader.

To date the Left has provided reasons for its supporters to get active in the presidential election: The Right has not.

We believe Congressman Cantor can change this dynamic.

This project is totally independent of Congressman Cantor.

Contact us by sending an e-mail to: info {at} ericcantorforvp(.)com

The National Jewish Democratic Council plays the Iran card against one of McCain’s top donors (and says “Guilt by Associaition” is a game that can be played by both sides):

Top McCain Adviser Traded with Iran

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John McCain’s Chief Economic Adviser, Carly Fiorina, was CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) when the company surreptitiously avoided the trade boycott of Iran. McCain, who recently urged further divestment from Iran, picked Fiorina to be his top adviser on the economy while she is also serving as head of the Republican National Committee Victory Fund. It was under Fiorina’s leadership as CEO that, according to an April 19, 2004, Forbes article titled “Trading With The Enemy,” HP traded with the Iranians.

If you want to get around export controls, just sell the product to a front company in Dubai. The middlemen will take it from there… Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft, among many other U.S. companies, keep Dubai offices and are favorites these days among Iranian traders in Dubai. (Forbes, 4/19/04)

“The National Jewish Council (NJDC) has been arguing that we should judge candidates based on their voting records and public statements,” said Ira N. Forman, Executive Director of NJDC “However, McCain and his allies insist on using guilt by association when looking at Democratic candidates. If this is their standard, then we call on them to explain why McCain’s Chief Economic Adviser oversaw the evasion of the American laws prohibiting Iranian trade in her tenure as CEO of HP.”

• Republican Jews say they’ve nabbed big Jewish Dem donor from South Florida. (Some liberal bloggers claim he’s given to GOPers before, but his FEC records show he generally helps Democrats.)
• Congress Daily reports on John McCain’s efforts to make inroads with Jewish voters.
• Rabbi Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel of America defends Pastor John Hagee. Michael Felsen of the Workmen’s Circle says Israel and the pro-Israel lobby might be better off without friends like him.
• The creator of the Willie Horton ad presses Obama-is-a-Muslim campaign.
• L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa heads to Israel as his re-election campaign gears up.
• Michael C. Desch, the Robert M. Gates Chair in Intelligence and National Security Decision-Making at Texas A&M University, says a presidential candidate who wants to be a true friend of Israel would sound more like Kissinger, Carter and Baker.

The Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Jewish Democratic Council are clashing over Barack Obama’s AIPAC speech.

First, the RJC issued this statement accusing Obama of attempting to rewrite his Iran policy:

Obama Tries to Rewrite His Iran Policy

Washington, D.C. (June 4, 2008) — The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) issued the following statement today:

“Today before the pro-Israel community at AIPAC, Senator Obama tried to run from his Iran policy. In September 2007, a bipartisan effort in the Senate passed the Kyl-Lieberman resolution designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. At the time, Obama vehemently opposed this effort and used the opportunity as a political diversion to attack Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Now that he has the Democratic nomination, Obama is attempting to rewrite his history and pretend his opposition to Kyl-Lieberman never happened. But in truth, when given the opportunity to demonstrate principled leadership and judgment, Obama instead worked against the bipartisan effort to increase the economic pressure on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”

And, right on schedule, the NJDC fired back (though it failed to address the actual claim made by Jewish Republicans) [UPDATE: The NJDC does have a more direct response up on its blog. Below is the non-response response.]

More Fear and Smear from RJC and Other McCain Supporters

WASHINGTON, DC - Ira N. Forman, Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), released the following statement:

This is just more of the same fear and smear that we hear from RJC and other Sen. John McCain supporters. It is clear from Senator Barack Obama’s speech yesterday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that he will continue to be a great friend of Israel from the White House.

I urge you to listen to his speech where he explains:
“My strong commitment to make sure that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable today, unbreakable tomorrow, unbreakable forever….That the bond between Israel and the United States is rooted in more than our shared national interests. It’s rooted in the shared values and shared stories of our people. And, as president, I will work with you to ensure that it is this bond that is strengthened.” (AIPAC Speech 6/4/08)

With regards to Iran Senator Obama said unequivocally that, “Finally, let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action [against Iran] on the table to defend our security and our ally, Israel. Do not be confused.” (AIPAC Speech 6/4/08)

These words are supported by a perfect pro-Israel voting record, a deep passion for Israel and an impeccable understanding of the policies that will succeed where Bush/McCain policies have failed.

• USA Today: Jewish voters could tip battleground states.
• The History News Network looks at the Jewish vote — in 1968 and 2008.
• A columnist urges Barack Obama to convert to Judaism.
• A Jewish progressive wonders why the Jewish progressive blogosphere is silent about a black man becoming the Democratic nominee.
• A HuffingtonPost blogger says Jews should take pride in Obama’s victory.
• Ed Koch says John McCain was wrong to reject the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee. The Jewish Press supplies a roundup of Hagee’s defenders.
• Writing for Newsweek and the Washington Post’s religion blog, Sarah Posner rips into Hagee’s theology.
• An American-born Israeli blogger weighs in on the latest controversy involving Bill Clinton and a young Jewish woman.
• And in case you missed it … the audio from Joe Lieberman’s conference call responding to Barack Obama’s AIPAC speech.