Bagels & Ballots: This Is It
After a long fall filled with mudslinging ads, record spending, masturbation double-standards, glamorous Hollywood endorsements that don’t work, digs about hair styles, kosher salami and kosher pastrami, we’ve almost made it. Stay tuned throughout the day for MitzVote’s coverage of Jewish voters at polls across the country. Here are some morning-of bits to tide you over.
The Big Question: As Politico puts it, “how big is the wave?” Polls, including one conducted by Politico/George Washington University, show 64% of likely voters in late October who believe the country is headed the wrong way, while yesterday we brought you Gallup’s GOP-favoring generic ballot results. Which is to say: we know that Republicans are poised to win, but by how much? (Politico)
Tying Up Loose Ends: Candidates and endorsers made their last campaigning and publicity pushes yesterday: John Boehner attacked Barack Obama in a radio interview; POTUS interviewed with, um, Ryan Seacrest; Michelle Obama stumped for Nevada’s Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Pennsylvania’s senatorial candidate Joe Sestak; Joe Biden went to Vermont; Bill Clinton to Florida; and Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell struggled to air her 30-minute television spot. (The Washington Post)
Nothing New About Liberal Heartbreak: While pundits, pollsters and lawmakers alike have bemoaned the divined loss of liberal power, Rabbi Michael Lerner was always way ahead of that curve. Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine, has long written that the Democratic party and its many actors — from Bill Clinton to John Kerry — are straying from their liberal roots. “Democrats have consistently failed to articulate a coherent world view and then fight for it,” he told MitzVote’s Karen Loew. “Instead they’ve sought to be ‘pragmatic’ and ‘realistic,’ and that has meant consistently compromising any principles they might have in order to ‘accomplish something’ while in office.” (MitzVote)
For those Democrats Still Hoping: Nate Silver comes up with a few scenarios that could help the Democrats hold onto the house. Hint: it starts with a trash can knocked over in John Boehner’s office before a hole is punched in Republican National Committee headquarters. (Five Thirty Eight)
Foreign Policy’s (Likely) New Faces: Forward senior columnist J.J. Goldberg unpacks the policies of 10 Republicans who will probably be key to foreign policy in the next session. Two would be expected to become Barack Obama’s allies on the Hill, while, Goldberg writes, “three are deeply committed to Israel and would become major allies to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his efforts to ward off White House pressure for compromise.” (J.J. Goldberg)
MitzVote PSA: It’s in our name, folks. Vote vote vote. Some would even call it a mitzvah. If you live in Indiana, your polls are the first to close, at 6 p.m. Happy Election Day!
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