PA Wrap-Up: The Politics of Fear vs. the Politics of Hope

The PA primary has come to this. No it's not a fallout shelter, just the vault in the Ardmore Obama'08 office mentioned in my previous diary.

This is my last day canvassing in PA. On my way back home, I will stop off northeast of Philly for the campaign-sponsored meeting tonight with Dan Kurtzer, our former Ambassador to both Egypt and Israel. It has been nine years since I last saw him at the Department of State, where he was my boss during my last two-year tour of duty in Washington before we both headed overseas to very different destinations. It will be good to see him again, but even more important to hear how he addresses the concerns of the Jewish community here, which has clearly been influenced by the politics of fear.
Dan Kurtzer is both the consummate diplomat and a great human being. And that is why I was very pleased to hear last month that he had come out in support of Barack Obama. With his Middle Eastern experience and as an observant Jew, Kurtzer should have considerable credibility in addressing Jewish concerns. But I do not want to minimize the challenge here, underlined by the young female rabbi visiting from NYC who told me yesterday that she was surprised by the degree of suspicion of Obama in the Jewish community.
wizinit :: PA Wrap-Up: The Politics of Fear vs. the Politics of Hope
A couple in northern Indiana County [PA] awoke yesterday morning and discovered their Barack Obama lawn sign had been spray painted with a red swastika.
"I was really disgusted. It's completely un-American," said Kamal Youssef, an artist and engineer from Egypt who became a U.S. citizen in 1958. "Everybody should have his own feelings and ideas and opinions," but he and his wife were stunned that someone defaced the sign.
...Mr. Youssef, 86, ...is Muslim...his wife, Maria, 75, is Jewish and Christian Orthodox and became naturalized after immigrating from Czechoslovakia.
--from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 6, 2008
I do not share the rabbi's surprise, but do feel her disappointment. After all, with his unique heritage and message of unity, I believe Obama transcends historic racial and religious divisions in our society. And when it comes to his past actions, he has a "100 percent pro-Israel" voting record. So what is the reason for the resistance in about half of the Jewish community here to voting for Barack Obama?
For those of us who have closely followed this contest over the past year it would appear that the targeted campaign against Obama in the Jewish community was launched big-time in mid-January of this year. Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon published an anti-Obama Jerusalem Post article entitled "Who Are You, Barack Obama?" January 23 that questioned the motives and encouraged suspicion of Obama's policy views vis a vis Iran and Israeli military security. At about the same time, at a relative's wedding in Florida, I learned that virtually every member of my family had received a version of the similarly entitled "Who Is Barack Obama" slurmail, which also circulated widely in white Christian communities in the south.
The campaign continued in February, reflected in an email forwarded to me by a relative that apparently originated with Lee Farber at the University of Pennsylvania. It contained Ed Lasky's American Thinker article of January 16 entitled "Barack Obama and Israel". Whatever his intentions, Farber did not mention that Lasky, who has by now published at least five anti-Obama articles, is critical of most Democrats and in 2004 argued "Why Jews Should Vote for Bush". In fact, Lasky's diatribes are very similar to the February 21 Jerusalem Post's "Obama and the Jews" by Marc Zell, who happens to be the Co-Chairman of Republicans Abroad in Israel.
If there is HOPE in this tale, it is that approximately 50% of Jewish voters I have talked to since Saturday are open-minded, or even commited Obama supporters. Many are actively volunteering in the campaign. Most question the Likud and GOP arguments directed against Barack Obama. They all realize that at this stage of the Presidential contest the anti-Obama attacks can only benefit Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Another encouraging indicator comes from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's party registration data, which yesterday reported that, for the first time in 30 years, Bucks County has joined Montgomery County and "flipped" from Republican to Democrat. Just since last November, there are 300,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, while Republican registrations have dropped by almost 60,000.
I ran into five Republicans this week who had recently re-registered as Democrats (since I was only canvassing previously registered Democrats, this was entirely by coincidence). All intend to vote for Obama on April 22. There were two other voters who did not leave the Republican Party, but hope to vote for Obama in November. When you combine these anecdotal stories with the fact that statewide there are now a million more Democrats than Republicans in PA, the prospects for an Obama victory in November are very positive indeed.