A Mitzvah in Miami?: Republicans Scoring With Jewish Voters In Florida

Maybe they see that Kerry is a shande after all:

Jewish Democratic leaders in Palm Beach County are worried.

They are increasingly concerned that Republicans and the Bush administration have done such a good job of marketing themselves to Jewish voters that the once-reliable bloc of Democratic votes could go in a big way toward the president's re-election.

With 22 days until Election Day, Democrats are scrambling to undo gains Republicans have made among Jews.

...

"The Republicans have made major inroads with respect to Jewish voters," he told Democrats at a Palm Beach County party meeting last week. "If they get 40 percent, it would be devastating. If they get 30 percent they could win the election. We need to keep them under 20 percent."

Sid Dinerstein predicted President Bush would take one-third of the Jewish vote in Palm Beach County. He's the chairman of the county Republican Party, and for year's he's been pushing Bush to Jewish voters.

He said the Democrats have reason to be concerned, and said it involves far more than his party's and the president's ability to market themselves.

"They're scared to death," Dinerstein said. "From their perspective they should be scared because enough Jewish people have finally said, `You know what? This is serious. This isn't about who's paying for your prescription drugs.'"

Both sides agree Israel is the main reason for the weakening of Jewish support for Democrats.

Wow. Both sides are fuckin' geniuses, huh?

The Bush administration has strongly supported Israeli government actions and has aggressively courted the Jewish vote. Some are unsure about Kerry.

"They have to lie to say that Kerry is as good as Bush [on Israel]," Dinerstein said.

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Although Dinerstein considers Israel vitally important, he said it's not the only reason for an erosion of Jewish support for Democrats.

He said it's a long-term phenomenon obscured in 2000 because the Democratic vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, was an Orthodox Jew.

"The Lieberman thing obscured a long-term trend," he said.

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Last week, former New York Mayor Ed Koch was in Palm Beach County to whip up Jewish voters on behalf of Bush, and attracted hundreds to his speech.

Democrats brought in their own non-Florida Jewish celebrity last week: Jon Bauman.

He was "Bowzer," the singer dressed in black as the doo-wop group Sha Na Na sang 1950s hits during the '60s through the early '80s.

Bauman's solo act tours nationally.

Bowzer.

Fuckin' Bowzer. This is the guy who's going to whip up fucking votes in Florida.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't care what the Gallup poll says, John Kerry couldn't get elected warden of monkey-prison with a wheelbarrow full of bananas and a lenient policy on flingin' excrement.

Florida Jews and Bush go together like...

It just feels right.