Richard Melson

November 2004

Last update: October 26, 2004 at 11:39 PM

Jewish Republicans making inroads

Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent

October 27, 2004 FLOR1027

DELRAY BEACH, FLA. -- Ari Fleischer, one of the nation's most prominent Jewish Republicans, said he switched political parties when he began paying taxes, but he still can't convince his liberal father to vote for President Bush.

"My father said to our little local hometown paper that if his son was going to rebel, it's better that he became a Republican ... than a drug dealer -- but not by much," said Fleischer, Bush's former press secretary.

When Fleischer went to a synagogue in southern Florida to woo votes for Bush last week, he got lots of laughs. And there were plenty of similar stories from Jewish liberals-turned-Republicans who are suddenly confident they've got the political muscle to influence the 2004 presidential election.

Jews are an unlikely source of support for Republicans. In 2000, when Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a major-party ticket, only 19 percent of the nation's Jews voted for George Bush.

Now, a recent national poll conducted by the American Jewish Committee showed 24 percent of Jews backing Bush. And, Republicans say, the president could get a third of the Jewish vote in Florida, which could be enough to ensure that he wins the state.

Growing numbers

"If we get a third, this state's off the table," said Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. "If I lose 2 to 1, I'll be dancing all night."

As a lifelong Republican, he's particularly happy to see the number of Jewish Republicans growing.

"I grew up in Brooklyn, New York," he said. "And every day, the streets were dirtier, the schools were worse, the crime was higher, the taxes were higher, the middle class was moving out. It was a one-party [Democratic] town, and I knew I would never join that one."

While only 4 percent of the nation's voters are Jewish, they're concentrated in key swing states such as Florida, which has an estimated 500,000 Jews in the southern part of the state.

Democrats are out to protect their turf. On Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton went to a temple in Boca Raton to campaign for Democratic Sen. John Kerry.

"They realize they're in trouble," said Florida Republican State Rep. Adam Hasner, the state chairman for Jewish outreach for the Bush campaign. "We're making them defend votes that they've taken for granted for so many years."

Bush's Jewish supporters say the president is the best candidate to lead the fight against international terrorists and to protect Israel and the United States.

Around the country, it's a message that's getting delivered by such high-profile Jews as former New York Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

"If we are not safe, we are not free," Coleman told a gathering of 1,300 Jewish women leaders in Washington, D.C., last week, adding that the issue is more important than the economy, health care, education or transportation.

In the past year, Coleman has spoken to Jewish audiences in Florida, New York, California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Minnesota.

The security message has resonated with voters such as Alan Goldenberg, 65, a retired physician from Plantation, who has already voted for Bush using Florida's early-voting system.

'Basic values'

"The issue before us now is terrorism -- it's safety," he said. "You can't be liberal until you're safe."

Many Jewish Democrats are puzzled by the Jewish Republicans.

"I don't know why a Jewish person would want to be a Republican," said Carol Cohen, a Democrat from Palm Beach. "All of what we believe in -- and our basic values -- are counterclockwise to what the Repuublicans are. We're very interested in helping the unfortunate." She called Bush "a lousy president."

Ruth Usem, a Democrat from Minneapolis, plans to vote for Kerry, but she said the race shows that neither party can take Jews for granted.

"Our Jewish vote is not a bloc," said Usem. "Jews are going to vote the way that their conscience tells them."

With 27 electoral votes, Florida will again play a decisive role in the presidential election. The state's voters are deadlocked between Bush and Kerry, according to polls released this week.

In 2000, Bush barely carried the state, and Republicans say that a minor shift in votes among Jews could provide a big boost for the president.

"He won Florida by 500 votes last time," said Fleischer. He got loud applause at Temple Emeth in suburban Delray Beach when he said that with Bush Israel has "its best friend ever in the Oval Office."

Hasner, who's one of only four Republican Jews in the Florida Legislature, was tickled that Fleischer attracted a full house of 250 on a weekday afternoon: "People would have told you years ago that this was impossible to do, and we're doing it."

As Fleischer spoke, Kerry campaign workers passed out literature criticizing Bush and boasting of Kerry's "perfect 20-year voting record on Israel."

Both candidates and their surrogates are touting their support for Israel.

Bush has proposed a "road map" for Middle East peace that called for dismantling all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and some in the West Bank, and the creation of a Palestinian state.

The president also has been sharply critical of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In a speech earlier this year, Bush said the ties between the United States and Israel "will never be broken," and he said that Israel "has every right to defend itself against from terror."

Kerry's supporters in Congress cite his record of calling for new Palestinian leadership and condemning Saudi Arabia's alleged financing of terror. Kerry has called Arafat a "failed leader unfit to be a partner for peace." Kerry said his commitment "to a safe and secure Jewish state is unwavering" and has been for his entire 20 years in the Senate.

Adele Shamban, of Palm Beach, said Kerry has not emphasized his support of Israel enough during the campaign, but she's upset with Bush and plans to vote against him. "He's been proven wrong time and again," she said, "and he never says he made a mistake."

Jean Scheinman, an independent voter from Delray Beach, said she admires Bush's record on Israel, but she's still planning to vote for Kerry.

"You're Jewish, but you're an American. ... I just feel as though George W. Bush would be far to the right in his appointments to the Supreme Court," she said.

Florida Republicans have brought in a long line of party stars in recent weeks to make the case to Jewish voters, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Gov. George Pataki.

'Backlash'

Yonahton Bock, regional field director with the National Jewish Democratic Council in Delray Beach, said the Republican effort could backfire.

"Some of this might create a backlash against the Republicans, because it's going to energize a lot of the Jewish voters," he said. "Jews continue to support Democratic positions and Democratic candidates far more than they do Republican candidates."

Mort Kuff, 77, a Republican from Boynton Beach, can attest to that. He comes from "a long line of Democrats, going back to before FDR." But he plans to vote for Bush, saying Kerry would make a better president for the United Nations. He doesn't talk politics much with his neighbors.

"I'm in the belly of a beast, so to speak," he said. "I live in a development of 268 homes, of which probably in excess of 200 are Democrats.

"When someone is open to conversation, I'll discuss it. But otherwise, it's like pounding your head against the wall."

THE SUNSHINE STATE'S JEWISH POPULATION is still largely Democratic, but the GOP has steadily attracted growing numbers to its banner. Prominent Jewish Republicans, including former White House spokesman Ari Fleishcer and Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, have been traveling the state attempting to woo Jews worried about terrorism and the future of Israel away from the Democrats. For their part, the Democrats aren't taking any of this lightly.