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November 10, 2000/12 Heshvan 5761, Vol. 53, No.7
Lieberman not a major factor as Jews cast votes
PETER EPHROSS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Yair Nadiv, a Republican from the Detroit suburb of Huntington Woods, Mich., had just done something he'd never done before: He voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.
The dual citizen of Israel and the United States believes that with the Middle East in turmoil, U.S. policy should not be in the hands of an amateur in foreign affairs. Al Gore is more experienced, "shows more intelligence, and his commitment to Israel seems very, very strong," said Nadiv, 40, whose youngest child, his prayer shawl fringes dangling from his shirt, accompanied his dad from the polling area.
"I voted basically my conscience as a Jewish man first."
Nadiv said he would have voted for Gore with or without the vice president's Jewish running mate, Joseph Lieberman. In fact, Nadiv is convinced that Lieberman would be faced with conflicting loyalties because his decisions would have to be based on the U.S. Constitution and not on his values as an Orthodox Jew.
Nadiv was not alone in his vote.
In interviews across the country, Jewish voters mostly expressed their support for the Gore-Lieberman ticket, although some did back Republicans George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
And while many voters expressed their pride that Lieberman, one of their own, had a shot at the vice presidency, his historic candidacy did not appear to be a major factor in their decision-making.
In Los Angeles, the voting lines at the polling places in the heart of West Hollywood's Russian community spilled out into the streets. The immigrants, many newly minted American citizens exercising their voting rights for the first time, turned out in force - and almost unanimously for the Democratic standard-bearer.
Leonid Shvartz, pointing to his elderly parents, said the preservation of Social Security swung him to Gore, who he believes is "close to us."
"Everybody is for Gore," said Dimitri Olshansky, an emigre from Belarus. "He's strong for Social Security. Also, his vice president is Jewish."
In South Florida, however, traditionally a Jewish stronghold, Gore appeared to still be haunted by the ghost of Clinton's indiscretions. Jews are known for turning out to vote in large numbers and for their strong opinions - and Mildred Ross, who lives in the Century Village retirement community in West Palm Beach, Fla., did not mince words when discussing her feelings about Gore.
"I hate him, because he's just like" his boss, she said, using a derogatory word for President Clinton.
But Rose Dunsky, also of Century Village, was proud of Lieberman's candidacy. While spreading peanut butter on matzah for the frail elderly at the local JCC's kosher meals site, Dunsky discussed the prospect of seeing the first Jewish vice president. She said, "It's important for the future. Now children will see that anyone - any minority - can be president, that their being a minority won't get in the way."
In Brooklyn's Crown Heights, where Lubavitch voters voted alongside the neighborhood's sizeable African-American community, presidential sentiment favored Bush over Gore. But many people expressed unhappiness about both candidates.
"Gore is in with the Arabs and the first thing Bush did was declare Jesus Day," one Chasidic male voter said, referring to a day celebrated in Texas and other states.
Nor did Lieberman's observant Judaism appear to sway any of these fervently Orthodox voters.
Daniel Cohen, 28, said he liked Lieberman but was worried that he might interfere in Israeli politics. "At a time of crisis in Israel, we want to see someone less involved in foreign policy and more involved in domestic policy." Cohen voted for the Bush-Cheney ticket.
With the exception of a lone Patrick Buchanan supporter, most interviewed said they had voted for Gore-Lieberman. Or, as Dave Grossman, a senior citizen exiting the polls with his wife, Zita, put it, "We voted for Joe Lieberman and Al Gore."
No one said the appointment of a Jewish vice-presidential candidate had factored into their choice, although some said they feared it would hurt Gore with non-Jewish voters.
JTA managing editor Howard Lovy in Detroit, staff writer Julie Wiener in New York and JTA correspondents Tom Tugend in Los Angeles and Tom Brodigan in South Florida contributed to this report.
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