Another day, another poll. And this one is full of good news for Barack Obama.
For months he has been struggling with Jewish voters. Polls by Gallup and the American Jewish Committee indicated that he was poised to become the second Democratic presidential nominee since FDR to receive less than 60 percent of the Jewish vote. But as the election enters its final week, Obama’s lead, nationally, despite an apparent outlier last week, and with Jewish voters, continues to grow.
Gallup’s latest poll found that 74 percent of American Jews expect to vote for Obama—on par with the proportion that voted for John Kerry in 2004.
It looks like all the commotion drew a desperate action from a low-level GOP staffer in Pennsylvannia, who sent out an e-mail to 75,000 Jewish voters intimating that a vote for Obama could lead to Holocaust II:
“Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008,” the e-mail reads. “Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let’s not make a similar one this year!”
A copy of the e-mail, provided by Democratic officials, says it was Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA – Victory 2008.
It warns “Fellow Jewish Voters of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors” and touts Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s qualifications over those of Obama.
State Republican officials disavowed the e-mail and said the strategist who helped draft it had been fired.
The rest of that report from Ha’aretz can be read here.
Deborah Lipstadt, the American Jewish historian who was sued unsuccessfully by Holocaust-denier David Irving, writes that “some people think that all you have to do is mention the Holocaust and Jews lose their brains”:
We saw the same thing when McCain and Palin both referred to a “second Holocaust” in reference to Iran having nuclear weapons. Believe me, the last thing I want is Iran to have such weapons. And as readers of this blog know, I am no fan of Ahmadinejad.
However all these references to the Holocaust are distasteful and are something that should be opposed. You can express absolute opposition to Ahmadinejad having a bomb without linking it to the Holocaust.
It simplifies what the Holocaust truly was and it makes it sound like all you are doing is fishing for Jewish votes.
Agreed. Language loses its meaning when it’s thrown around like f-bombs in a Matt Taibbi article. And if I recall correctly, hasn’t John McCain’s campaign been accused once before of “exploiting the Holocaust?”
