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August 11, 2000/10 Av 5760, Vol. 52, No.48
Local leaders weigh in on Lieberman
BARRY COHEN
Community Editor
On the whole, local Jewish leaders agree Vice President Al Gore's selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, above and beyond religion, is commendable and courageous.
But they disagree about whether the decision will encourage Jewish Republicans to vote Democratic and whether a Jewish vice-presidential candidate will create a backlash.
"He is somebody different with impeccable qualifications. ... He has sincerity, integrity and is proud of who he is and what he does," said Rabbi Robert L. Kravitz, executive director of the American Jewish Committee area office.
"This is another wonderful step in our history," said Rabbi B. Charles Herring of Temple Kol Ami, a Reform synagogue in Scottsdale. Gore's choice of Lieberman expresses the idea that "this is just as much my country as it is yours."
"I have no reason to doubt Gore's words that Judaism had nothing to do with (the choice)," said Richard Kasper, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "He picked (Lieberman) because he is the most qualified, and it was the best way to balance the ticket."
"The vice president had to do something big and bold because the Republicans managed their convention so well," said Arizona State University Professor Bruce Merrill. "Bush had momentum in the polls, and it was broken with this decision."
Merrill added two additional reasons for the choice: Gore "had to distance himself from Clinton," and "there has never been anything negative said about Lieberman."
Open to debate is how much Gore's vice-presidential choice will encourage Republican Jews to cross over on Election Day. Kravitz is doubtful.
"The motivation for (how) to vote comes from issues, not personalities," he said. "Someone who considers himself or herself to be Republican will not be hard-pressed to pull a Democratic lever."
Kasper disagreed, saying he would not be surprised if some Republican Jews will be swayed to vote for Gore.
But the decision will be based "not because of a Jewish running mate, but what it says about Gore," said Kasper. "Gore is ... expressing confidence in a Jewish candidate and in the voters."
David Weiner of Weiner Insurance, an active Democrat, said Republican Jews could be swing votes in larger states, such as Florida and New York. He said they may realize "they can make a difference" and choose to vote for Gore.
Republican Steven Chanen, president and chief operating officer of Chanen Corporation, said more Jewish Republicans would be enticed to vote for the Gore/Lieberman ticket if Lieberman were not Orthodox.
Most of the Republican Jews he knows are Reform, and Chanen said "a vast (ideological) chasm (exists) between the Reform and the Orthodox."
Leaders also disagree on the possibility that Gore's decision will stimulate anti-Semitism.
"The level of media exposure could cause a backlash," said Merrill.
"It will bring a fringe element up to the surface," said Weiner. "But at the same time, Bush has an obligation to address the concerns ... if he hears the hate rhetoric."
In the past, "if something has gone wrong, blame it on the Jews," said Rabbi Chaim Silver of Young Israel of Phoenix, an Orthodox synagogue.
He is concerned about the possible negative repercussions that could result with the focus placed on Lieberman.
"Anti-Semitism by most good counts is down," said Kravitz. "I do not believe that new anti-Semitism will appear."
He pointed to the significant number of Jewish candidates through the years who have run for congress, governor and senate.
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