Obama: Reaching Out To Jewish Voters

With the nomination looming within reach, Obama is looking to connect with the Jewish community. Words have been spreading quickly that he is a Muslim and that he is looking to appease Hamas and is not Pro-Israel ( not to mention the Pastor Wright mess). In an attempt to squash his anti-Israel image, Obama has been making trips out to Jewish communities and his latest was a large gathering in Boca Raton, FL. Obama was aksed to vouch for the Pro-Israel stance he so strongly claims he believes. Obama has been trying to shake his pro -hamas image as well stating that his request to deal with Hamas and his intent on talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is only if they renounce terrorism. Dennis Ross of the Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on "how to have successful negotiations". He believes that talking to terrorist nations does not give them legitimacy they so desperately seek and is not a source of appeasement but rather a starting point. It seems to be a big question as to whether liberal Jews will vote for Obama should he win the nominations. My view is that short of him saying something ridiculously anti-semitic, Jews will continue to vote Democrat as they always have and certainly Obama knows how to talk a good game. As the article points out regarding Obama's meeting in FL:"The Jewish community here is made up largely of older people - not to suggest they're gullible, but maybe they don't delve into the fine points," said Michael Gora, a lawyer active in county politics who said he had been neutral in the primaries but will support Obama as the nominee.