Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

GOP Shops Palin to Jews

Republicans are gearing up to defend the nomination of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate in light of Democratic charges that she is out of step with Jewish voters.

DON'T DROP IT: The nomination of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate has led some Republicans to fear that John McCain?s popularity among Jewish voters may be hurt.

Palin has become the focus of criticism since her surprise selection, with Democrats claiming that her conservative views and staunch opposition to abortion rights will deter Jewish voters from voting for the Republican ticket in November.

“In the snapshot of the moment, it is possible that Obama teaming up with [Joe] Biden and having questions raised regarding Sarah Palin’s views may result in fewer Jewish swing voters leaning to McCain than people had expected,” said Nathan Diament, the Orthodox Union’s Washington director of public policy and a seasoned observer of the Jewish political scene.

The Democratic campaign against Palin began just after the Alaska governor received the vice presidential nomination. Senator Charles Schumer, a Jewish Democrat from New York, took to South Florida’s retirement communities September 6, stressing to Jewish voters that Palin was wrong for them. “Eating moose meat is not a big thing here in South Florida. When they learn that Sarah Palin is for teaching creationism in the schools, people are aghast,” he said.

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the Forward that Palin’s positions on reproductive rights, equal pay and health care “go to the core values” of the Jewish community. “I think the overwhelming majority of Jews in the state of Florida and across the country, when they find out the troubling agenda of Sarah Palin, will vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” she said.

Republicans are working to debunk Democratic arguments against Palin while marginalizing her views on social issues. “Jewish voters are going to need to get to know Governor Palin; she is not well known yet,” said Florida state representative Adam Hasner, an active McCain supporter.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, in a fact sheet circulated September 9, called Palin a strong supporter of Israel and an “unconventional Republican.”

Fred Zeidman, co-chair of McCain’s Jewish outreach operation, said it is important to remember that Palin is only the vice presidential nominee. “The Jewish community knows John McCain and his views. He will be the president of the United States, and he’ll be the one making decisions,” Zeidman said. “She will be his vice president and will serve in a way that will be in line with his thinking.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.