Obama's struggle to secure the Jewish vote

Matt Berger NBC/National Journal Reporter

Sen. Barack Obama’s visit to a Boca Raton synagogue Thursday was his latest in a series of efforts to convince a skeptical American Jewish community that he is a true supporter of Israel.

Obama, who spoke at Florida’s B’nai Torah Congregation, has been dogged by questions of how his foreign policy views would affect the Jewish state. There is concern that he would foster direct negotiations with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for the destruction of Israel. Obama's also been dealing with erroneous suggestions and suspicions that he is Muslim or anti-Israel.

The controversy has been picked up by many Republicans — including President Bush, who hinted at Obama in a speech to the Israeli parliament last week, chastising leaders who want to negotiate with terrorists, calling it the “false comfort of appeasement.”

The Obama campaign has been facing similar attacks for months, centered around his proposal to meet with Ahmadinejad in his first year in office.

“There is an orchestrated effort to mischaracterize and falsely present his views and things about him personally,” said one Obama aide.

Obama's synagogue visit
Obama hit the issue head-on in his remarks at the synagogue. "People have been getting e-mails nonstop," Obama said. "I have said throughout this campaign that we should not negotiate with Hamas or Hezbollah, and that’s why I reject the attempts by some of my opponents in this campaign to distort my position. They are counting on fear, because they know they haven’t told the truth.”

Jewish Democratic congressmen and other community leaders acknowledge there is a nervousness about Obama that could hurt him on Election Day.

Video Obama and the Jewish vote May 22:  A Race for the White House panel talks about Sen. Barack Obama and the Jewish vote. Race for the White House

“I have, over the last six months, been bombarded with this stuff,” said Ira Forman, the executive director of the National Democratic Jewish Council. “I live in a world where the people I talk to are very involved in the Jewish community, and where this issue is most intense is in the inner circle.”

It is not an unprecedented tactic. Howard Dean, who sought the Democratic nomination in 2004, was pegged as anti-Israel in an anonymous e-mail campaign after he referred to Hamas members as “soldiers” and said he would favor an “even-handed” Middle East policy, a term many Jews equate with support for Palestinians over Israelis.

Jewish leaders say that once these characterizations enter the public lexicon — whether true or not — they are hard to fight.

Matt Dorf, a Democratic strategist who served as an adviser to Dean’s campaign, said Jewish Democrats have learned a lot of lessons from 2004, both from Dean's experience and the broader “Swift Boat” attacks that nominee Sen. John Kerry faced about his time during the Vietnam War.

“An aggressive and timely response is needed,” said Dorf, who now advises Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “And that is something the campaign has done very, very well.”

Campaign praise
Indeed, many Jewish leaders praised Obama’s reactions to Bush’s comments last week. They say it will need to be followed with large forums to Jewish audiences and small-group conversations with Jewish leaders.

Jews make up less than 2 percent of the American electorate, but are seen as an important constituency. Why? Because they are politically active and vote in large numbers in several important swing states, including Florida, where Jews make up 3.6 percent of the population.

While Jews were once a consistently Democratic voting bloc, more have been embracing Republican candidates in recent years. Bush received 24 percent of the Jewish vote in 2004, the largest percentage for a Republican in 20 years.

Jewish voters do not choose candidates on the Israel issue alone, and are often seen as a liberal group on social issues like abortion and health care. But Middle East policy is a litmus test for many, who will not support a candidate they believe will threaten the viability of the Jewish state.

Many Jews are being bombarded with information about Obama, both from anonymous e-mails and by campaigns orchestrated by various organizations. False rumors that he is Muslim have been swirling for months, and some Jews are concerned about his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who has made anti-Israel comments.

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