All Posts Tagged With: "jewish vote"

The internet is full of op/ed written by opinion leaders who with  both clarity and certainty believe that Barack Obama will be either good or bad for America, good or bad for Israel, and good or bad for our standing in the world.

As for this commentator, I can no more predict whether Barack Obama will be a good President, a mediocre President or a poor President than the weatherman can predict tomorrow’s weather.  I have no idea whether he will be good or bad for Israel for that matter. And with all due respect to thoughtful people who dot our political landscape, I just don’t see how they can be so certain about their convictions.  After all, Barack Obama has no record in foreign policy by which we can remotely evaluate his abilities, tenacity or accomplishments.  Contrasted to a Hillary Clinton, an Evan Bayh, Sam Nunn or even Joe Biden, Obama is a foreign policy neophyte whose professorial rhetoric might sound promising on the campaign trail. But when the chips are down and there is no time for thoughtful rumination, what will he do?  Will he rise to become the next Harry Truman or fester in indecision to be the second term of Jimmy Carter?

Since that 1980 election, many of my formerly fellow Democrats  voted Republican for the first time in their lives, unable to find comfort in the policies of the new Democrat Party as espoused by Carter.  The growth of Jewish support within the GOP has grown steadily since.   I believe the overriding reason is due to our evolving view of the dangers in the world and the realization that negotiation without strength, without threat of force and the occasional use of force, are pure folly.  Nearly every cycle since that time we have seen candidates who pledge to fix the world through negotiation and peace talks instead of building a strong military. This time is no different. We have one candidate who supports a strong defense, and one who in his own words wants to reduce our military capacity through reductions in missile technology, nuclear capacity and 7 others directives.

Having said all of that, I have made my choice in the coming Election.  I will vote for John McCain.  I will do so for a number of reasons, not the least of which is his opponent’s aforementioned glaring lack of a record, on both domestic and foreign policy.   As with many conservatives of my generation, it is the latter that has dominated our thought process and voting pattern at least since 1978, when the first overt declaration of war against the US was made by radical Islamists, on our revered weekly “news” magazine, 60 Minutes no less.  Speaking with the fawning interviewer, then-Paris resident, Ayatollah Khomeini declared his intention to overthrow the Shah of Iran and begin a lifelong death march to destroy the Western World.  The President of the US at that time, Jimmy Carter, did nothing, but ruminate.  He had been elected to “change” American politics and help us regain our standing in the world.  His naiveté in dealing with a tyrant who pledged to destroy Israel and the West, led to the capturing of our Embassy and the holding of American hostages, giving the newly-formed Shia-led government the first tangible victory against the West and brought America to its knees.

What does that have to do with today and our looming Election?   Everything.  Barack Obama, like Carter before him, is seeking “change” in our foreign policy.  Change indeed, to pull back on the strength and military side and go back to our earlier approach to fighting terrorism through peaceful negotiations.  Barack Obama, like Carter before him, believes that we should talk to our deadliest enemies without pre-condition.  Barack Obama, like Carter before him, believes the UN is our best hope of finding peace in the world. Barack Obama, like Carter before him, speaks nary a sentence about the dangers of radical Islam even though we don’t even need good intelligence to see it; their leaders both in the US and all over the world say it in public without hesitation – Islam will overthrow the US whether it takes a year or a century.  Americans who don’t see this (and almost always cite people such as me as being fear-mongerers or Islamaphobes) believe that America is to blame for much of the hatred against us and share Obama’s pastor’s long held belief that “the chickens are coming home to roost”.   Not me.

On the home front, Barack Obama plans are in direct contradistinction to Lincoln’s admonition that “you cannot help the poor by punishing the rich” and that “you cannot help the poor by doing for them what they can do for themselves”.   To prove the point, he has made concrete promises such as giving free college tuition to those earning less than a certain amount, giving cash to those who don’t even pay taxes, give a tax cut to those earning less than a certain amount, give universal health care to everyone.  He has not stopped there as he has also made promises more global and theoretical such as the stunning claim that “people will remember 2008 as the year when the oceans stopped rising…”.  And who is going to pay for all of this?  Correct, only the richest amongst us.   Pure unadulterated class warfare.

Witness, during a debate with Hillary Clinton, Brian Williams asked Obama if he understood that raising taxes results in a net loss to the federal treasury and that lowering them has historically brought in more net funds to the federal coffers.  Obama agreed.  So Williams then asked, “do you still support raising capital gains taxes?”  To which Obama incredulously answered “Yes…….because it is the fair thing to do”.  That statement, and all of its implications, are stunning.  While some will call me unfair, isn’t that the definition of socialism?  A President who will make decisions based upon his own assessment (in this case, people and small businesses earning more than $250,000 are considered rich) of what is fair as opposed to what is best for all of us?  Not the type of leader I want to follow.

Lastly, much is being made about McCain’s choice of VP. It is said that Sarah Palin has no experience in fact, Obama’s official Jewish supporters group says, “For Senator McCain to elevate someone with zero foreign policy experience and no record on Israel to the Vice Presidency is disconcerting at best to those of us who care deeply about the strong U.S.-Israel relationship and America’s standing in the world.”  That statement on its face is just pure political garbage;  Obama himself has no record on Israel and zero foreign policy and he will be the President from Day 1.    They say that Palin is just a heartbeat away from the Presidency, yet Obama, with even less experience in a public executive role IS the heartbeat.

They fear that she will impose her religion on others, yet there is no record of her doing anything close to that in her public roles.   They fear she does not support Israel, even though it is Obama who has the anti-Semitic friends, chose to join an anti-Israel, anti-American church and sat there for 20 years in a place that foments anti-Israel sentiment without a peep.  They fear her references to God even though it was Obama who had the lengthy speech about  his religion and what it means to him.  They fear she won’t be there for Israel when it counts, yet it is Obama who is endorsed by Hamas’ political wing and remained in a church that honored Jew-hating Louis Farrakahn.  The list goes on.

So after much reflection and consideration, I cannot take the chance that Obama, despite his lack of proven executive experience, will indeed be the next Harry Truman or Ronald Reagan.  Israel cannot afford to take that chance.  And that is why I am supporting a longtime, proven friend of Israel, John McCain.  He has been tested in the harshest of circumstances and made decisions under great duress that show his conviction and strength.  As for Obama, I have no idea how he will respond.

But you can always ask the weatherman.