Obama now looks to secure Clinton's Jewish constituents
Pro-Israel record will reassure wary voters, Democrats say
By Lorne Bell - Thursday June 12 2008
When Barack Obama clinched the nomination for the Democratic Party last week, Hillary Clinton’s Jewish supporters were forced to reassess their allegiances. But despite an often bitter primary season – one in which critics from both parties questioned Obama’s stance on Israel and Middle East affairs – local Democratic leaders are confident the Illinois senator can secure the Jewish vote.
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Although Clinton won the Massachusetts primary by a wide margin, Obama carried the state’s Jewish vote 52-48 percent. He also received broad support from Jews across the country. Clinton, who has consistently fared well among Jewish voters, pledged her support for the Illinois senator last Saturday and urged her constituents to do the same. Her statement came just days after she and Obama addressed 7,000 delegates of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., where she lauded Obama’s pro-Israel stance. Obama took the opportunity to reassure voters of his commitment to the Jewish State.
“We know that the establishment of Israel was just and necessary, rooted in centuries of struggle and decades of patient work,” he told the crowd. “But 60 years later, we know that we cannot relent, we cannot yield, and as president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel’s security.”
The senator again refuted claims made in slanderous e-mails sent to the Jewish community that insinuated he has ties to Islamic extremism. And he clarified his policies on pressing for “aggressive” diplomacy with Iran, offering the caveat that he would “always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel.”
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“The bottom line is that how serious or real the commitments he made at AIPAC really are is something that nobody knows, including Obama himself,” said the Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff. “He may know what he means but won’t really know until he is actually in office whether or not he wants to, or can, follow through.”
More:
http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=5106