Obama is gaining momentum- also among Jews

AlEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA- There is no way to estimate in exact numbers former Jewish Congressman Tom Lantos' contributions to Israel's prosperity and safety. He was 16 when the Nazis conquered Hungary, and sent him to a concentration camp. Afterwards, he escaped and found refuge with the Swedish Righteous Gentile Raoul Wallenberg. In 1947 he came to the United States to study, and stayed.

In 1980, Lantos, an economics professor, was elected to Congress as a representative for his San Francisco hometown, and has been there since. The only Holocaust survivor in Congress- smart, authoritative, knowledgeable. Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee. On his office walls hangs Jerusalem lithography. In all these years, he was one of the greatest supporters of Israel and promoted human rights worldwide. He died Monday at age 80. A loss of this kind has no replacement. President Shimon Peres, described Lantos on Tuesday as "a fearless fighter for democracy, freedom, and human rights, a true and close friend of the State of Israel."

Lantos fell ill many months ago, but was able to announce that as a "superdelegate"- a term for some of the Congressman belonging to the Democratic National Committee- he would support Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Similar to many other Jewish lawmakers and voters, but not to all. As the days pass, as Senator Barack Obama's momentum increases, it seems as though the majority of Jewish Democrats will support him. Last weekend, when California's votes were recounted, it became clear that Obama won the majority of the Jewish votes- the state where Lantos was from.

Last weekend, a substantial group of Jewish lawmakers from Maryland joined Obama's band of supporters. They announced that Obama supports Israel and will continue to support it. Even Jewish Congressman John Yarmuth joined the supporters camp.

The "Potomac primaries" which will be held Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, are important for Obama, who wants to maintain his momentum after four consecutive victories last week- in Nebraska, Washington state, Louisiana, and Monday's win in Maine. They are important for Clinton too, who wants to steal Virginia at least from Obama. That way she can claim she had a nice achievement, for all in all, everyone assumed ahead of time that Obama's chances of winning those areas are greater.

The last time Virginia voted for a Democratic president was a long time ago. Not Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, McGovern, or Humphrey. The year was 1964, and the winning candidate was Lyndon B. Johnson. Since then, only Republicans. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton think and believe that this is about to change. And they are thinking, each of them by separately: I am the candidate who can change this.

What the two candidates attempted to do in their appearances in past days was to convince voters that they are the candidate who can beat Republican John McCain in Virginia. Obama emphasized the fact that independents are supporting him- that is to say, he is the candidate who can break the left-right tradition and bring new populations and countries to the Democratic line. Clinton claimed that only an experienced candidate who knows how to withstand attack and return fire can stand against McCain.

This is an interesting turning point in the campaign, which is credited to the Republican opponent. Because the candidate from the right is already known, the voters have to not only make an ideological ruling- who they prefer- but also view the race pragmatically: Which candidate standing before us has the better chance of stopping McCain's train? Not that they didn't speak of this before, but now the selection is much more precise.

The polls are speaking for Obama. He is leading McCain in a two-way race, while Clinton is close, sometimes in a small delay against McCain. All this is not important, Clinton headquarters say, since the attack on Obama from the right hasn't begun. If he is the elected candidate, the support for him will lessen and erode. To Clinton, they say, that can't happen. The voters already know everything possible about her. Anything bad that can be said about her has already been said. Whoever supports her anyhow, won't change his/her mind negatively- only positvely.