Category
democratic
Democrats’ Plans Must Factor in Israel
As public support for the war in Iraq continues to deteriorate and as the Bush administration\’s political situation trembles on the precipice, Democrats are beginning to stir. Pushed by a party base that has long detested what it sees as timorous accommodation to Bush, national Democrats are trying out themes and approaches that they hope will bring them back to a share of national power.
School Bond Measure Gets Failing Grade
I have a picture on the wall of my office. It was taken at about 4 a.m. in 1998. I\’m in the picture with a group of Democratic and Republican legislators. We look tired; we\’ve been up late for a number of nights. But there\’s also a glint of celebration.
That was a happy and proud moment. We had just negotiated Proposition 1A, which put $9.2 billion of school bonds on the ballot. This bipartisan breakthrough opened the way for three successful state school bonds that raised $34 billion for school construction.
I\’ve also supported local school bonds, and the state and local money that voters entrusted to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is being used to build schools all over the city.
I don\’t take this progress lightly or for granted. But building for seats is not the same as building for reform. To date, L.A. Unified has done the former but only paid lip service to the latter. And I find myself moving to an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position on the question of the school district\’s bid to pass $3.985 billion in school bonds this November.
Examining the Jewish Vote
Like many Jews, Paul Kujawsky is a vociferous supporter of Sen. John Kerry. But at Shaarey Zedek Congregation in the Valley, he stands out as such an anomaly that his rabbi refers to him as \”the one Democrat in the shul.\”
DNC, ‘Daily Show’ and Davening
So an Orthodox Jew is not the Democratic vice presidential nominee this year, like in 2000. And the wife of the vice presidential nominee is not named Hadassah.
Balancing Acts of Faith and Pork
The question: How Jewish vs. how democratic should the Jewish State of Israel actually be?
That was really the question before Israel\’s Supreme Court.
More than a legal question, it led to serious and heated debate. The answer would be a defining factor in the very nature of the state itself. It came to the fore as the court was asked to decide if three cities, Jerusalem included, could ban the selling of pork.
The ruling: That cities cannot outright forbid the sale of pork and should respect communities that are predominantly religious but may sell pork in other areas of the city.
Simply Wrong
The Republicans are praying that President Bush\’s embrace of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon\’s Gaza withdrawal plan will sway the Jewish vote.
Kerry’s Lead Alters GOP Jewish Strategy
The rise of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as the Democratic front-runner, with Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) as a respectable second, will alter a lot of plans in Bush-Cheney re-election headquarters, and that includes plans for harvesting Jewish votes. Kerry\’s rise means an even more targeted Jewish GOP strategy, combined with an ongoing effort to pry Jewish campaign contributors loose from the Democrats.
Two Cents Plain
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.\”
Dean’s Judaism Ties Span Decades
In the middle of a rowdy rendition of \”I Have a Little Dreidel\” at the Sobelson family Chanukah party in Concord, N.H., Howard Dean walked in and declared himself the cantor.
The Democratic presidential candidate recited the blessings over the candles in near-perfect Hebrew in a dining room crowded with campaign staffers.
\”It\’s another Jewish miracle,\” Carol Sobelson exclaimed
New Articles
“Screams Before Silence”
Remembering Ken Holtzman, Outstanding Jewish Pitcher for the Cubs and A’s.
Why Are Presidential Statements About Jews So Weak?
UCLA Hillel on Pro-Palestinian Encampment: Jewish Students “Feeling the Intensity of the Situation”
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