Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 23, 1992 Page: 4 of 24
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Opinion
4 TEXAS JEWISH POST, THURSDA Y, JUL Y 23, 1992-IN OUR 46TH YEAR!
Hi
Impact of Perot Decision on
Jewish Vote
If the presidential sweepstakes is
a kind of endurance test for politi-
cians, Texas billionaire Ross Perot
proved something of a wimp last
week.
But Perot’s sudden withdrawal
from the race will not have a major
impact in the Jewish community,
according to political sources here.
Despite widespread interest in
Perot’s insurgent candidacy, there
was little evidence that a signifi-
cant number of Jewish voters
were prepared to climb aboard his
lurching bandwagon.
And according to several politi-
cal experts, Jewish support for Perot
would likely have diminished as
the campaign moved into the final
stages—in part because Jews have
a stronger interest than most groups
in the integrity of the two-party
system.
But Perot’s departure could alter
the arithmetic of the people run-
ning the Jewish campaigns for the
two remaining presidential con-
tenders.
“All the calculations change,”
said political consultant Mark
Seigel. “With Perot out of the race,
it makes the Jewish vote less im-
portant nationally—but MORE
important in several key states.”
When the presidential contest
was a tliree-way race, many ex-
perts predicted exceptionally close
votes in a number of states, where
even a small shift in the Jewish
vote could prove decisive.
With Perot out of the game, the
Jewish vote in most of these states
is unlikely to carry the same weight.
At the same time, several big
industrial states could loom larger
in the Bush-Clinton showdown.
Generating a huge Jewish turnout
in states like New York, New Jer-
sey, Illinois, California, Maryland
and Ohio — states with large Jew-
ish populations — will be more
important than ever for the Demo-
crats in the new, post-Perot envi-
ronment.
“We’re going to look at a differ-
ent kind of strategy,” said Seigel, a
Democrat. "It’s going to be a more
concentrated strategy; if we have a
very high Jewish turnout forClinton
— 90 percent is realistic, I think —
some of those states COULD go
Democratic because of the Jewish
vote ”
Idle Jewish vote, he said, remains
essertial to the Clinton effort —
but in different ways, now that the
Perot candidacy has evaporated.
Washington Watch
By James David Besser
Changes in Clinton Jewish Strat-
egy
After last week’s Democratic
extravaganza in New York, the Bill
Clinton campaign has settled down
to the grueling work of winning a
general election.
And part of that effort will in-
volve some subtle shifts in the
campaign’s Jewish strategy, ac-
cording to Democratic sources.
With a strong Jewish turnout for
the Democratic ticket almost guar-
anteed, Clinton and his surrogates
are likely to downplay direct ef-
forts to win Jewish votes.
Instead, the campaign will rely
more heavily on the National Jew-
ish Democratic Council to turn out
a big Jewish vote, and on”get out
the vote” efforts now underway by
a number of organizations.
And the campaign will rely
heavily on strong Jewish support
for Clinton’s vice-presidential
choice, Sen. A1 Gore (D- Tenn.).
The campaign will continue to
work with Jewish communities
around the country. But the candi-
dates themselves will attempt to
demonstrate in this year of political
alienation that they are not beholden
to “special interests.”
That was apparently the reason
Gore went before the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) at last week’s convention
— and never mentioned Israel.
Morrie J. Amitay
“Democratic candidates in the
past have tried to put together coa-
litions of interest groups that they
had to appeal to,” said Morrie
Amitay, a longtime pro-Israel ac-
tivist who is involved in the Jewish
pro-Clinton effort. “That didn’t
work; obviously the Democrats
haven’t won elections. Elections
have been won on broad economic
issues, on character.”
So instead of appealing to spe-
cific interest groups, the Clinton
campaign hopes to identify the key
issues that important groups in the
Democratic coalition share — pri-
marily economic interests.
“I don’t think we’ll hear a lot of
pro-labor speeches, pro-Israel
speeches, pro-civil rights
speeches,” Amitay said. “Every-
thing will be woven into the broader
issues — jobs, opportunity, fixing
the economy. That’s the message
they need to get across if they want
to win.
Cardin to Serve Third Term
With the dramatic political
changes in Israel and the potential
for a similar shift in this country,
the official Jewish community in-
creasingly seems to crave stability
in its own ranks.
Soshana Cardin
That helps explain why Shoshana
Cardin, who is nearing the end of
her second term as chair of the
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations,
may end up serving a third term —
despite the custom of limiting Presi-
dent Conference chairs to two con-
secutive terms.
A number of prominent Jewish
activists are quietly making the case
that now is not the time to change
leadership.
“There is a growing sense that
we need to keep on an even keel
amidst all these changes,” said an
official with a major Jewish group
here. “Cardin has been a very steady
presence during a difficult time.”
There is also concern that none
of the other likely candidates has
the stature or the media presence
that Cardin has brought to die job
— skills that could prove impor-
tant as the Middle East peace pro-
cess and U.S.-Israeli relations en-
ter a new and uncharted realm.
Ms. Cardin, while not officially
running for a third term, has done
nothing to dampen the nascent
movement on her behalf.
Jewish Activists Fight for Emer-
gency Food and Shelter Program
The recession continues to pro-
duce hard-luck stories around the
nation. But Congress, facing its
own budgetary hard-luck story, is
still hacking away at some of the
programs designed to help the
recession’s many victims.
Jewish groups around the coun-
try have pitched in to save the
Emergency Food and Shelter Pro-
gram, a federal program designed
to meet emergency needs through a
unique partnership of public and
private groups.
That partnership includes Jew-
ish Federations in a number of big
cities.
The program has been slated for
a $34 million cut by a House sub-
committee—a cut that would
hobble the program even as de-
mand for emergency services by
laid-off workers continues to rise.
“'This is an absolutely critical
program in a number of cities,”
said Mark Talisman, Washington
director for the Council of Jewish
Federations. “It’s clear from ev-
erything we hear that demand for
these services continues to grow;
cutting this program now would be
devastating.”
Sen. Barbara Mikulski
Jewish groups have been focus-
ing much of their attention on Sen.
Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a long-
time supporter of the emergency
program. Because of her role as
chair of the Appropriations Sub-
committee on the Veterans Admin-
istration, HUD and independent
Agencies, she will play a key role
in continuing the program with full
funding.
Mikulski has been a kind of god-
mother to the program in the past.
see WASH WATCH p. 9
Texas Jewish Post
Editor and Publisher J.A. Wisch
Managing Editor 4 Co-Publisher Rene Wisch
Assistant Editor Sharon Wisch-Ray
Consultant Steve Wisch
Social Editor Linda Davidsohn
Typography Stan Cumberledge
Since 1947 Food/Home Susan Wisch
Adv. Representatives Judy Wisch, Wylma Hooker
Robert Brimm, Sharon Wisch-Ray
Layout Angie Englert
Photography Sharon Wisch-Ray 4 Judy Wisch
Circulation Director Ellen Hill
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 23, 1992, newspaper, July 23, 1992; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth755427/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .