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October 1, 1999/21 Tishri 5760, Vol. 52, No.5
Jewish leaders join McCain on Buchanan front
CHRIS GARIFO
Staff Writer
and DANIEL KURTZMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Some local and national Jewish leaders say presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has proved himself to be an anti-Semite, and they are therefore joining Arizona's U.S. Sen. John McCain in his position that Buchanan has no place in the Republican Party.
And the Jewish leaders say GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush is making a mistake by encouraging Buchanan to stay in the party.
McCain, who formally announced his candidacy for president on Monday, Sept. 27, last week suggested that Buchanan, who has said he is considering joining the Reform Party, was no longer a Republican, by virtue of statements he made in his book, "A Republic, Not An Empire," about whether U.S. involvement in World War II was warranted.
In a follow-up statement from the McCain 2000 office, the Republican senator from Arizona said his fellow Republican candidates who were "continuing to appease Buchanan ... appear to have put politics ahead of our party's principles."
In his recently published book, Buchanan suggests that Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany after 1940 did not threaten American interests and sought only "mastery of Europe."
Elaine Schreiber, past president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and chairwoman of the Western region of United Jewish Communities, said she hasn't read Buchanan's book, "but, from reports of what he's said, I would say there's an innate anti-Semitism."
Ira N. Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council in Washington, D.C., went further and said Buchanan is "dangerous."
"Buchanan is bigoted," Forman told Jewish News. "He's a xenophobe and he's obsessed with Jews. ... He's a dangerous political figure, and I think his ideas need to be defeated."
Forman went on to question why the Republican Party would want to have Buchanan "under their 'big tent.' It speaks legions about the Republican Party in 1999."
Forman lauded McCain for speaking out against Buchanan.
"I have to take my hat off to (McCain) for putting principle in front of politics," Forman said. "I wish there were more John McCains."
Forman criticized Texas Gov. Bush, who has urged Buchanan to remain in the GOP.
"I think when people look at (Bush) and see what's there, (a candidate who's) not going to stand up to bigotry, (they'll ask) what that says about him as a presidential candidate," Forman said. "I hope it hurts him. It shows the American people what this man is made of."
The Bush campaign, in a news release, said Bush "disagrees emphatically" with Buchanan's ideas about World War II and believes the war against Germany was "a great and noble cause."
Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker released a statement explaining Bush's position that, "The Republican primary is a contest of ideas. Republican voters will have a chance to express their opinions when they go to the polls."
Bush's campaign people, however, said the son of the last Republican president doesn't believe anti-Semitism has a place within the party.
"There's no place for bigotry and hate, not only in the Republican Party but anywhere in America," a spokesman traveling with Bush told Jewish News on Sept. 29, a day after Bush paid a campaign visit to Phoenix, where he repeated his calls for Buchanan to remain a Republican. If Buchanan were to bolt for the Reform Party, he could take 4 percent of Republican voters with him, polls suggest.
Attorney David Goldman, president of the Reform Party in Florida, said Buchanan would have a place in that party if he accepts the party's platform.
"I've read his latest book cover to cover, and there's not a thing anti-Semitic in it," Goldman told Jewish News on Sept. 29. Goldman, who is Jewish, suggested that the outcry and criticism being leveled against Buchanan within the GOP has nothing to do with his views.
"It's just that I think a lot of the hyperbole and accusations about Pat Buchanan have been initiated by the Republican Party leadership who think they own your vote," Goldman said.
Neil Hiller, president of the Phoenix federation and a registered Republican, said he wouldn't vote for Buchanan because "politically he's not where I'm at," but he added that "anybody who wants to be a Republican can be a Republican."
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that while he was disappointed with Bush's response to Buchanan, he was far more troubled by the attitude toward Buchanan in wider political circles and by what he called a lack of recognition of the "nature and of the poison of this man."
"I am troubled that there is a man who is an anti-Semite, who is a Hitler apologist, a Nazi war-criminal defender, an Israel-basher, a racist on so many levels, and good serious people are still trying to waltz around him gingerly," Foxman said.
If people were to recognize "who he is and what he is," Foxman added, "there would be no hesitancy to say that this man does not belong in the political mainstream of our country."
The Republican Jewish Coalition last week said Buchanan's views were abhorrent and that he had no place in the GOP. But Matt Brooks, the group's executive director, defended Bush's stance, saying it made practical sense.
"What (Bush) has done is to make sure Buchanan can't leave the party and take Republican support with him (by) saying he was forced out of the party," Brooks said.
Bush recently met with Jewish Republicans and the heads of several major Jewish organizations to discuss a range of Jewish concerns, including the Middle East peace process, church-state separation and gun violence. By most accounts, Bush - a pro-life governor who has said he wants church and state to "work together," has endorsed displaying the Ten Commandments in schools, and once said that only followers of Jesus can go to heaven - already has a difficult road ahead in courting Jews.
At the same time, supporters of Bush say that he is committed to building support in the Jewish community, as evidenced by the meeting he convened with Jewish leaders. Brooks pointed out that Bush has surrounded himself with Jewish advisers who have strong records on issues of concern to the Jewish community, while showing a firm stance on issues such as moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and supporting a strong U.S.-Israeli strategic relationship.
Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull, during Bush's visit, became the 24th GOP governor to endorse Bush.
Daniel Kurtzman writes from Washington, D.C.
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