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April 4, 2003/Nisan 2 5763, Vol. 55, No. 32
Candidates seek AIPAC support
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Along one hallway in a Washington hotel the night of March 30, the first signs of how Jewish support for the 2004 Democratic presidential challengers will be doled out came into focus.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), in his element and among his base of support, worked a shoulder-to-shoulder room of loyalists and college students. When he tried to leave he was encircled, forced to take baby steps for close to an hour before he reached the exit.
Howard Dean, the anti-war former governor of Vermont, talked shop with a strong crowd of unfamiliar faces in a room half the size of Lieberman's. While he walked virtually anonymously to the reception room, he left in a scrum similar to the Jewish senator's.
And Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), the former House Democratic leader, shook hands in the corner of an open room at the end of the hallway, with as many people interested in the food platters as those who wanted to speak to the candidate.
While it is by no means a scientific survey, the crowds and enthusiasm at the receptions following the first day of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference gave a clue as to where Jewish support is going in the primary election.
The fact that five presidential hopefuls attended the conference - Sens. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Bob Graham (D-Fla.) were at the March 31 evening banquet - showed how much influence the Jewish community is expected to wield in the primary season.
Political analysts often say that the Jewish community's influence in politics goes well beyond its percentage of the electorate: American Jews are more apt to give money to presidential candidates than are other demographic groups, and do the grassroots work that campaigns thrive on.
Those who come to an AIPAC conference have proven they are involved in the process, making them a perfect place for candidates to make their presidential pitch.
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