Kentucky notes: GOP, Israel, Dirt

Weekend

My weekend print edition column was all American politics. It is a mix of reporting and analysis from a week long election tour.

You can read it in full here, or just take a look at these paragraphs:

Republicans

On Wednesday America's First Lady traveled to Kentucky to give a boost to Congressman Ron Lewis, and then to Ohio, where she stumped for Deborah Pryce. Vote for them, urged Laura Bush, who is peerless when it comes to being nice. In Columbus, about 300 citizens had gathered to hear her, and all strictly obeyed the Franklin County "applause rule," as Doug Preisse, the Republican Party's regional chairman called it. After the mention of each name, only one quick clap allowed, to save time and aggravation. There are so many names of good people who are seeking the citizen's vote.

The brass band from Christian Grove City High School regaled the crowd waiting for Bush. Then a priest offered a prayer to the Lord, to which he appended a few important requests. Important for America, of course, and also for the career of Republican Deborah Pryce. She is a senior legislator, fourth in the ranking Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, but she lags in the polls behind her rival, Mary Jo Kilroy - or as people in Pryce's campaign like to refer to her, in the hope of unsettling voters, "Liberal Kilroy."

According to the polls, anywhere from two to five Republicans representing Ohio are in danger of losing their seats. Some in districts hit by scandal, others in districts where the voters just appear to be fed up. Laura Bush tries to remind her listeners who lowered taxes, who created jobs, who will protect America from terror - and the audience nods its assent. This is no great achievement; the crowd is made up of Pryce supporters. She will get their vote; the problem is with other people.

Jews

Exactly two years ago, during the 2004 presidential election campaign, I met Michael Bleicher in Philadelphia. Bleicher, a young Jew barely 20 years old then, wearing a black kippah, was volunteering to spend much of his time out among the citizens of Pennsylvania in an effort to convince them to vote for George W. Bush. The effort failed: Pennsylvania voted for John Kerry. Bush took Ohio and, with it, a second term in the White House.

This week, Bleicher was back on the scene, a little older and a lot more experienced. During the past year he worked at the Washington offices of the Orthodox Union of America, and later got a job working for the Republican Party in the Senate. He loves politics, apparently. And also has a firm ideological outlook, which is why he took time off from work to come participate in Senator Rick Santorum's re-election campaign. Santorum, seeking a third term, is currently more than 10 points behind in the polls.

Senator Santorum is in a less promising position than George Bush was in 2004. And, of course, he can't afford to lose Pennsylvania, since that's the state he represents. Bleicher's main mission: To foster a bond between Santorum and the Jewish community. His efforts involve meetings with rabbis and making phone calls to voters. Bleicher says he's finding an interested audience, even though the Jews of Philadelphia, including those in the city's Orthodox community, tend to vote Democrat.

One of the things that Santorum is trying to play up is his support for Israel. In a conversation with Haaretz he links the larger war on Islamist terror with the smaller war, Israel's war in Lebanon. Santorum talks about "Islamic fascism" in a way that leaves no doubt as to his tough policy positions. He is undoubtedly a friend of Israel, but this does not appeal to some Jewish voters as much as he may wish it would, for this support is clearly of a certain political bent: Santorum supports Israel just as he supports the war in Iraq. The Palestinian issue does not appear of central concern to him; the strategic threats, Iranian and Islamic, are what matters.

Israel

In recent weeks a debate has been heating up among the movers and shakers of the Jewish community over a key question: Who's better for Israel - the Republicans or the Democrats? Things reached such a point that, on Wednesday, the main pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, had to address the subject and issued a decisive announcement: They're both good, the Republicans and the Democrats.

No issue directly related to Israel is on the agenda in this election, which is focused mainly on the performance of the president, the sullying of the governing party and the war in Iraq. But when tensions are high, all possible tools are brought to bear. The Republican Jewish Coalition went ahead and pulled out the heavy artillery. Its advertisements and press releases say that a vote for the Democrats will weaken Israel and that the Democrats do not support Israel as strongly as their Republican challengers do. An intriguing, but potentially risky claim. Israel has always relied on support from both sides of the aisle, and would clearly be better off continuing to do so.

Jewish activists from the Democratic side were infuriated by the attempt to win over voters with propaganda of this sort. They have reason to be angry, but they also have work to do. At the basis of the Republican claim lies a niggling kernel of truth that is reflected in all the public opinion surveys. Democratic voters do not side with Israel at the same rate and with the same enthusiasm as Republican voters do. This was the finding in regard to questions about the conflict with the Palestinians as well as about the war in Lebanon.

But the Democrats also make arguments that are difficult to refute. The party leadership is just as stable as in the past in its support for Israel, and without a doubt will be so in the coming term, too. One strong supporter is Nancy Pelosi of California, who is expected to be re-elected and to serve as House Speaker; another is Congressman Rahm Emanuel, whose staff will get most of the credit for a big victory. Here's an unwavering supporter of Israel whose political positions are quite far from those of Rick Santorum.

Dirt

From Virginia to Indiana, in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky, the candidates donned stiff armor and set out to take no prisoners. The truth must be told, however: The Republicans were harsher and more blunt apparently because of their desperate situation in the polls, but the Democrats took the gloves off, too.

In Pennsylvania's sixth district, where incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach is trying to avoid a loss to Democrat Lois Murphy, the Republican candidate put out a television ad accusing his rival of having abandoned her neighbors, who are suffocating under the burden of the establishment.

In Indiana's eighth district, where John Hostettler is lagging behind his opponent in the polls, the Republican broadcast an ad charging that his rival would vote for Nancy Pelosi, "the liberal from San Francisco" for the position of Speaker of the House. And why would this be so bad? Because "Speaker Pelosi will then put in motion her radical plan to advance the homosexual agenda." Hostettler, by the way, is not your typical Republican: He has voted against Israel at almost every opportunity. For this reason, his opponent, Brad Ellsworth, has received support from some Jewish donors eager to be rid of this political nuisance.