Because of his sympathy for the Palestinians, his willingness to meet with enemies, perhaps even his Arabic middle name, he averaged ten or more percentage points worse among Jewish voters in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania than he did in those states overall.Regardless of all of the political hoops Obama is going to have to jump through to try to bring this 10% into his coalition, the larger issue at stake is why that 10% is hesitant in the first place.
The staunchly pro-Israel Jewish community, those that are the cornerstone of this 10%, needs to re-evaluate it's rigid position on Israel. There is no reason that a Jewish, pro-Israel individual can't recognize when Israel has done something wrong, or more importantly, acknowledge the plight of the Arab populous in this region. Just because a politician may show the slightest sympathy towards that population, especially when said politician acknowledges the causes of their problems as stemming from their own choices, does not signify that that politician is anti-Israel, or bad for the state of Israel. Rather, it manifests a flexible perspective that looks at all sides of any given issue.
I guess my point is that there should not be a Jewish problem for Obama. His foreign policy perspective is one that would be beneficial to the state of Israel and to the stability of the international community. McCain just represents a continuation of a policy that is going to have destabilizing effects on the Middle East, and create a further imbalance of power in the region towards Iran that could create long lasting problems for Israel.
My Fellow American Jews: Use the 60th Anniversary of Israel to re-evaluate your stance. Widen your perspective, and think about which politician truly represents your best interest, and the best interest of Israel.
-JRo
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