Jewish candidates will be well represented in the March 2 election, with incumbents in Los Angeles County expected to sail through with no — or token — opposition in the Democratic and Republican primaries.
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination has taken a fateful turn in the past several weeks. The rise — or re-emergence — of Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts, the decline of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and the withdrawal of Sen. Joe Lieberman make the quadrennial dream of Republicans that Jewish voters will vote Republican more difficult to achieve.
Have you ever sat down in restaurant, scanned both sides of the menu, then flipped to the back hoping there\’d be another row of choices? That\’s how I\’ve felt after watching every Democratic debate of Campaign 2004. I\’m not particularly impressed with what\’s offered, but there\’s no column three.\n\n\”It would be kind of amusing,\” one long-time Democrat told me after the last debate, \”if it weren\’t so damned important.\”
What is the proper pro-Israel litmus test for presidential candidates? And who gets to decide?
First a disclaimer: I have never met Arnold Schwarzenegger, have never spoken to him, was never contacted by his political people, no one ever asked me to support him, or offered me money to do so. I supported him because I respect him and because I am convinced that he will be good for California. In fact, if I may brag just a little, I started predicting that he would be the next governor of California many months ago, when only a few hard-line nuts seriously considered that a recall could be successful. I didn\’t think/hope that Gray Davis would be recalled. I just was sure that Arnold would run and win the next race.
\”While we all hope for freedom in Iran, we perceive this as an Iranian, rather than a Jewish, issue,\” one source said. \”On a practical level, if Iran were to become a democracy, many expatriate Muslims would probably go back but very few Jews.\”
This year, 5763, Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat, the weekly observance that Sen. Joseph Lieberman calls \”a sanctuary to put the outside world on hold and concentrate on what\’s really important — your faith and your family.\” And although Lieberman, who was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, will experience the same joy he feels every Friday night as he takes off his watch and prepares to get into the Sabbath mood, during Rosh Hashana all activities are heightened — the prayers are longer, the conversation more intense, the urgency to evaluate the past year and make resolutions for a sweet New Year more palpable.
Even though Robert Hertzberg will step down from the speakership of the California Assembly on Feb. 6, he still has plenty to say. The Sherman Oaks Democrat, as a rule, keeps busy.
Who\’s the big winner in Tuesday\’s Los Angeles mayoral election? My bet is real estate developer Steve Soboroff. James Kenneth Hahn may be an old-line Democrat, but he benefited mightily from the silence maintained by the wealthy Republican businessman, who had come in third in the April primary.
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