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Imagine a scenario where John McCain becomes the president with Joe
Lieberman as Vice President and then dies.
"Jerusalem Post
US Senator John McCain a favorite of Iowa Jews
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, Jerusalem Post Correspondent , THE JERUSALEM
POST Jan. 4, 2008
When Arizona Senator John McCain took the stage the night before the
first-in-the-nation caucuses to be held here Thursday night, he
thanked several fellow senators who had joined him on stage to show
their support. But then he also mentioned another senator -- Joseph
Lieberman of Connecticut -- who wasn't present because he was
campaigning for him in New Hampshire.
McCain promotes his alliance with Lieberman, an independent senator
and Orthodox Jew who campaigned in 2000 as the Democratic vice
presidential nominee, to show off his bipartisan credentials, and his
reference to his "favorite Democrat" before the conservative Iowa
audience who had braved the cold to greet him elicited cheers. But
those weren't the only Iowa voters pleased at the reference.
Iowa's statistically small but politically active Republican Jewish
constituency has been pleased by McCain's relationship with Lieberman,
among other things that have attracted them to the former naval
aviator and POW.
"The fact that Lieberman affiliated with [McCain] brought him up with
a certain quadrant of the Jewish community," said a Jewish leader in
Iowa in explaining Jewish support for McCain, though he also referred
to support for other candidates, including former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani.
McCain had never been expected to win Iowa, but his numbers crept up
following strong debate performances and endorsements by a string of
newspapers, including the influential local Des Moines Register. He
came in fourth with narrow loss to third place challenger Fred
Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, who had pumped money into TV ads
unlike McCain. It was close enough to boost a campaign once entirely
written off.
McCain, whose popularity is building in New Hampshire, a state he won
decisively when challenging George W. Bush for the nomination in 2004,
is also buoyed by the fact that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee
trounced the number two winner here, former Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney. Romney has led many polls in New Hampshire, and McCain
hopes his competitor's slide will follow him to the Granite State. New
Hampshire will hold the first primary vote on Tuesday.
McCain needed support from groups such as Jews, who are more open to
entertaining alternatives to Huckabee and Romney. Both have focused on
faith and emphasized the importance of Christian values in their
campaigns. Romney gave a landmark speech in which he defended
religious freedom in America following attacks on his Mormon faith,
referring to his belief that, "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the
Savior of mankind"; Huckabee, who used to be a Baptist preacher, has
run ads referring to his Christian credentials and often speaks on
religious themes.
"The candidates that are speaking a religious language are alienating
to the Jewish population," said the Jewish leader, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
He described the issue of the separation of church and state as "the
number one" issue for the Jewish community, explaining, "A society
that's [focused on] religiosity tends to overlook minorities, and
we're a minority."
McCain also said he supported the notion that America is a "Christian
nation" in an interview that raised Jewish ire, but has made religion
less a focus of the campaign, and has in the past inflamed the
evangelical community so supportive of Huckabee by calling some of
their leaders "agents of intolerance" and other slights.
Giuliani, a Catholic, has been the least focused of the top tier
candidates on religion, but he opted not to campaign in Iowa and is
expected to fare poorly. He is likely to get more support from Jewish
Republicans than other Iowa constituencies, however, as they tend to
be more moderate.
Bud Hockenberg, a long-time Jewish Republican activist in Iowa, would
not discuss which Republican candidate was most favored by Jews ahead
of the caucuses, noting that just about all of the competitors had
backers.
He said, though, that Jewish voters were looking for candidates who
are staunch supporters of Israel, had robust national defense
priorities and were committing to fighting Islamic extremism. He
estimated Jewish Republicans at about 30% of the Iowa Jewish
community, consistent with the number nationally.
Hockenberg said that he personally would be strongly supporting
whoever won the Republican nomination."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1198517292703&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Lieberman as Vice President and then dies.
"Jerusalem Post
US Senator John McCain a favorite of Iowa Jews
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, Jerusalem Post Correspondent , THE JERUSALEM
POST Jan. 4, 2008
When Arizona Senator John McCain took the stage the night before the
first-in-the-nation caucuses to be held here Thursday night, he
thanked several fellow senators who had joined him on stage to show
their support. But then he also mentioned another senator -- Joseph
Lieberman of Connecticut -- who wasn't present because he was
campaigning for him in New Hampshire.
McCain promotes his alliance with Lieberman, an independent senator
and Orthodox Jew who campaigned in 2000 as the Democratic vice
presidential nominee, to show off his bipartisan credentials, and his
reference to his "favorite Democrat" before the conservative Iowa
audience who had braved the cold to greet him elicited cheers. But
those weren't the only Iowa voters pleased at the reference.
Iowa's statistically small but politically active Republican Jewish
constituency has been pleased by McCain's relationship with Lieberman,
among other things that have attracted them to the former naval
aviator and POW.
"The fact that Lieberman affiliated with [McCain] brought him up with
a certain quadrant of the Jewish community," said a Jewish leader in
Iowa in explaining Jewish support for McCain, though he also referred
to support for other candidates, including former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani.
McCain had never been expected to win Iowa, but his numbers crept up
following strong debate performances and endorsements by a string of
newspapers, including the influential local Des Moines Register. He
came in fourth with narrow loss to third place challenger Fred
Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, who had pumped money into TV ads
unlike McCain. It was close enough to boost a campaign once entirely
written off.
McCain, whose popularity is building in New Hampshire, a state he won
decisively when challenging George W. Bush for the nomination in 2004,
is also buoyed by the fact that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee
trounced the number two winner here, former Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney. Romney has led many polls in New Hampshire, and McCain
hopes his competitor's slide will follow him to the Granite State. New
Hampshire will hold the first primary vote on Tuesday.
McCain needed support from groups such as Jews, who are more open to
entertaining alternatives to Huckabee and Romney. Both have focused on
faith and emphasized the importance of Christian values in their
campaigns. Romney gave a landmark speech in which he defended
religious freedom in America following attacks on his Mormon faith,
referring to his belief that, "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the
Savior of mankind"; Huckabee, who used to be a Baptist preacher, has
run ads referring to his Christian credentials and often speaks on
religious themes.
"The candidates that are speaking a religious language are alienating
to the Jewish population," said the Jewish leader, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
He described the issue of the separation of church and state as "the
number one" issue for the Jewish community, explaining, "A society
that's [focused on] religiosity tends to overlook minorities, and
we're a minority."
McCain also said he supported the notion that America is a "Christian
nation" in an interview that raised Jewish ire, but has made religion
less a focus of the campaign, and has in the past inflamed the
evangelical community so supportive of Huckabee by calling some of
their leaders "agents of intolerance" and other slights.
Giuliani, a Catholic, has been the least focused of the top tier
candidates on religion, but he opted not to campaign in Iowa and is
expected to fare poorly. He is likely to get more support from Jewish
Republicans than other Iowa constituencies, however, as they tend to
be more moderate.
Bud Hockenberg, a long-time Jewish Republican activist in Iowa, would
not discuss which Republican candidate was most favored by Jews ahead
of the caucuses, noting that just about all of the competitors had
backers.
He said, though, that Jewish voters were looking for candidates who
are staunch supporters of Israel, had robust national defense
priorities and were committing to fighting Islamic extremism. He
estimated Jewish Republicans at about 30% of the Iowa Jewish
community, consistent with the number nationally.
Hockenberg said that he personally would be strongly supporting
whoever won the Republican nomination."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1198517292703&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
