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January 30, 2004/Shevat 7 5764, Vol. 56, No. 19
Jewish support split three ways
Lieberman places fifth in New Hampshire, vows to continue campaign
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and his wife, Hadassah, campaign door-to-door on Jan. 25, before the New Hampshire primary, with media and supporters in tow.
Photo by Matthew E. Berger/JTA
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Now that the race for the Democratic nomination for president is moving south and west, Jewish scrutiny of the candidates is likely to intensify.
Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) who won New Hampshire with a healthy margin, was propelled forward with his second win in two weeks. He has enjoyed solid Jewish support until now - he won most Jewish votes in Iowa last week - and that support is likely to increase. So, too, is scrutiny of his policy positions.
History's first viable Jewish candidate for president, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), is heading for a test he has said will make him or break him. Lieberman, who came in at fifth in New Hampshire, says he needs to win at least one of the seven primary and caucus states Feb. 3 in order to stay in the game.
Lieberman captured 9 percent of the vote in the election season's first official primary. Kerry won the Jan. 27 primary with 38 percent of the vote. Dean, the former Vermont governor who was once the front-runner in New Hampshire, came in second with 26 percent.
Lieberman had been locked in a tight battle for third place with Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), who each received 12 percent of the vote.
An exit poll suggested that among New Hampshire Jews, Kerry, Clark and Lieberman finished in a dead heat. Dean trailed, and Edwards hardly made a showing.
Kerry has the distinction of enormous popularity among American Jews and Ameri-cans generally.
He is a solid Israel supporter and supports the isolation of Palestinian Authority Presi-dent Yasser Arafat, but those close to him say he has little patience for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He has em-phasized the need to bring Saudi Arabia to account for peddling anti-Semitism.
Steve Rabinowitz, a Washington adviser to Democrats and to the Jewish community, says Kerry is likelier now to attract Jewish money.
"It tends to go to the front-runner anyway, and Kerry is playing well in the com-munity. He's got a history in the community and people are comfortable with him," Rabinowitz said.
Lieberman's fifth-place finish Jan. 27 placed his candidacy on its last leg, though the campaign pledged to fight at least another week, heading south and west.
Lieberman is banking on the diversity of the states there to allow new voters, especially conservative Democrats, to have a say. The range of those states - and the shift away from New England, home turf for Kerry and Dean - means Lie-berman can exploit his name recognition from the 2000 vice presidential nomination to get a leg up.
Lieberman told supporters Jan. 27 that campaign organizers in the seven states with primaries and caucuses next week wanted him to "carry this fight to our states." He said, "The battle goes on with the confidence that I am ready to be the president America needs now."
Among the states going to the polls next week are Arizona, which has 81,500 Jews, and Missouri, which has 62,500 Jews, according to the American Jewish Year Book.
That may not be significant for Lieberman's candidacy, as Jews have shown that they do not necessarily vote for Jews if they find other candidates equally or more favorable.
Lieberman's acknowledg-ment that he needs to win a state next week is echoed by Democratic National Com-mittee National Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who repeatedly has said that any candidate who has not won a state by that time should drop out.
Lieberman pitched a positive spin on the New Hampshire finish Jan. 27, claiming he was in a three-way tie for third place.
Many New Hampshire Jews said they chose the candidate they believed could best defeat President Bush in November. Some Jewish voters said they abandoned a favored contender for one who was more viable to win in November.
Issues also have shifted, as more Jewish voters said rebuilding the economy and providing health care became more important than the war in Iraq. Kerry's surprise victory in last week's Iowa caucuses seemed to help him garner more support in the Jewish community in New Hampshire.
Jews who backed Lieberman insisted their shared religion was not a factor.
"It has nothing to do with the fact that he's Jewish," said Moshe Shpindler, a restaurateur in Manchester who was born in Israel. "He's really straightforward and honest."
Several Jews who supported other candidates said they had considered Lieberman but didn't think he could win the Democratic nomination or defeat President Bush in November.
Adam Solendar, executive director of the Jewish Federation for Greater Manchester, said Jan. 27 that he had spoken to several Jews who went into the voting booth planning to pick either Dean or Kerry, but then cast their ballot for Lieberman. Solendar said they all decided in the end that they should not exclude Lieberman because he was Jewish, and they determined his views were the closest to theirs.
Ron Kampeas, the JTA bureau chief in Washington, contributed to this report.
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