This week in power: Romney, Gunter Grass, Connecticut politics, Passover message

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Romney’s race
With Rick Santorum bowing out of the GOP race this week, it appears that the nomination is now going to go to Mitt Romney. “If he can allay Jewish concerns about the influence of Christian conservatives on his social agenda, Romney might convert enough Jewish votes in places where it could theoretically make a very big difference,” ” title=”http://prospect.org/article/chill-jews-arent-voting-republican” target=”_blank”>warned Gershom Gorenberg in The American Prospect: “If the GOP is even less popular among Jews than it was a generation ago, the reason is apparent: The party has become ever more rigid and homogenous in its economic and social conservatism, and its tests of ideological purity send none-too-coded messages to Jewish voters.” And, after all, Romney’s Mormonism ” title=”http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5icZYAAHkozj-fSMl6Sv6fBnadmRA?docId=12efd2f5c5794fddb827a154e06c20eb” target=”_blank”>banned Nobel-winning author Gunter Grass from the country this week over a poem of his published last Wednesday that suggested Israel is as big a threat as Iran. “The poem is, to put it bluntly, morally obtuse and politically embarrassing,” ” title=”http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=265331″ target=”_blank”>tore into Grass. “We hope he regains his moral bearings and issues a complete retraction. Anything less will cast a shadow on Grass’s reputation as a moral voice for Germans who came of age in the generation after the Shoah.” But not everyone thinks the punishment fit the crime. “The entire nation suffers when a poet is barred from its land. That is not the democratic response to bad speech. Nor is it the response of the Jewish tradition, which thrives on debate and dissent. It should not be the Israeli response,” ” title=”http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/conn-democratic-debate-includes-name-calling/cc2754e992444557b3138f895e4c389b” target=”_blank”>whore” for his support of Israel during a local debate last week. Lee Whitnum is “obsessed with AIPAC and Zionism and spends a great deal of space on her campaign website trying unsuccessfully to assert that she is not an anti-Semite. But at least she comes by her bias honestly,” ” title=”http://blogs.providencejournal.com/ri-talks/this-new-england/2012/04/don-pesci-tailspinning-in-conn.html” target=”_blank”>said Don Pesci in the Providence Journal. Organizers requested more decorum at the next debate.

Passover message
Each year at this time rabbis and thinkers and, yes, even bloggers hope to convey a succinct message for what we should take away from the Passover story. Here are a few of the suggestions: “Today the flow of information is so rapid that in order to have a real impact, conveying an idea only once is no longer enough. Messages must be passed on through constant repetition, utilizing many different channels both overt and discreet,” ” title=”http://savannahnow.com/column/2012-04-09/ratner-passover-remember#.T4XVEiOaEfF” target=”_blank”>said Ari Ratner at SavannahHow.com. Isi Leibler in the Jerusalem Post, on the other hand, ” title=”http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/comedian-jon-lovitz-says-anti-semitic-prank-no-210812430.html” target=”_blank”>according to reports. He tweeted: “Thanks for all your support on the hate crime. No one should be bullied for any reason. We’re all people who should be treated w/ respect.” Many people saluted Lovitz for his aggressive response. I am proud of Mr. Lovitz for not being afraid to stand up for his friend, for what was right, and for Jews.  His actions matter. We live in a world where kids are shot while out to get Skittles, and you can commit a hate crime and not be held accountable.  It’s sad, wrong, and scary.  Jon Lovitz stood up for all of us, and loudly proclaimed that we must keep the faith,”