Jessie Streich-Kest and Jacob Vogelman, two Brooklyn Jews and friends from childhood who were killed during the height of Hurricane Sandy, both came from families deeply involved in social and humanitarian causes. Their death, according to Vogelman’s father, also involved an element of selflessness.
From the start, the rationale by which voters would have to choose between Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) was somewhat murky. The two congressmen have very similar voting records, and, as far as pro-Israel voters were concerned, both Jewish legislators are considered reliable advocates for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Amid life-sized cutouts of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, Republicans gathered in a backroom at the Daily Grill in Santa Monica on Tuesday night to watch Fox News election returns on two large screens. The mood was festive as the evening kicked off with drinks and appetizers and the waiters set down oversized plates of pasta and chicken on tables decorated with red, white and blue tinsel centerpieces.
So the Jewish vote didn’t make much difference after all. Not even in Florida. Had Romney taken Florida, had he won this election, we could have argued that the 31 percent of Jews he was able to win over in the Sunshine State played an important role in his razor-thin victory. But he lost the election, Jewish gains notwithstanding. Thus, the first lesson, then, for Jewish Republicans like Sheldon Adelson should be as follows: If you have resources to spend on campaigning, if you are truly committed to the cause, spend your time and money assisting your party in winning over the people without whom elections cannot be won: Latinos.
President Obama won 69 percent of the Jewish vote according to an exit poll.
Jewish Democrats Lois Frankel and Alan Grayson won congressional seats in Florida.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach lost his bid for a congressional seat from New Jersey.
The day after the election looks a lot like the day before for President Obama, particularly in areas that have attracted the attention of Jewish voters: Tussling with Republicans domestically on the economy and health care, and dancing gingerly with Israel around the issue of a nuclear Iran.
Television networks projected that President Barack Obama won re-election as U.S. president over Republican Mitt Romney in Tuesday\’s election despite a sluggish economy and high unemployment.
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