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October 8, 1999/28 Tishri 5760, Vol. 52, No.6
McCain to Jews: Don't reject GOP
CHRIS GARIFO
Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he hopes the Republican Party will not be damaged in the eyes of Jewish voters as a result of the controversy surrounding statements made by fellow presidential candidate Pat Buchanan in his book, "A Republic, Not an Empire," suggesting that Nazi Germany did not pose a direct threat to the United States prior to America's entry into World War II.
"I hope that most Jewish voters recognize that the party ... is one of inclusion and recognition of the importance of the U.S. defense of human rights," McCain told Jewish News on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
McCain quickly pointed out that he was not accusing Buchanan of anti-Semitism, despite such allegations from some Jewish leaders.
"I've said there's no place for that kind of philosophy (in the party or the United States)," McCain said of Buchanan's views of World War II. McCain said that when Buchanan espouses such views, "he leaves the Republican Party."
McCain said Buchanan's opinions about Nazi Germany are unacceptable to the Republican Party because of what the consequences could have been had the United States failed to enter the war and help defeat Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, and because of the sacrifices American men and women made in winning the war.
McCain also said he opposes Republican front-runner George W. Bush's continued efforts to encourage Buchanan to remain in the party, "but I'll leave it to others to judge whether (Bush is) doing right or wrong."
Buchanan has suggested he may leave the GOP to run as the presidential candidate of Ross Perot's Reform Party.
Bush and Buchanan were unavailable for comment.
Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker in Austin, Texas, said the Texas governor "wants an opportunity to beat Buchanan's ideas in a Republican primary."
The controversy erupted with the publication of Buchanan's book, which advocates an isolationist U.S. foreign policy, and suggests that current policy that extends "war guarantees" to areas where the United States has no vital interest could prove disastrous to the nation.
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matthew Brooks said the fact that there is "no basis of support for Buchanan" in the GOP as a whole should send a "strong message to the Jewish community."
Brooks acknowledged that Buchanan's writings include a "stream of ideas ... that somehow tends to weave the Jewish community throughout as a cause of a variety of problems. You sort of wonder why he continues to engage and attack the Jewish community."
Brooks said McCain and Bush each "acted in a way that was appropriate for them" in their response to Buchanan's book.
"(Bush) is the front-runner," Brooks said. "There is nothing more that Buchanan wants than to engage the front-runner. It's important that when Buchanan leaves the party, as I'm certain he will, that he doesn't make himself the political victim in this situation, which I think is his strategy."
Brooks rejected the suggestion that Bush has placed politics before principle.
"George Bush stood up for his principles," Brooks said. "This is a difference of tactics. ... (Bush) did not give any tacit endorsement of the views Buchanan holds."
Brooks added that all of the Republican presidential candidates, except for Buchanan, will speak at a Dec. 1 event in Washington, D.C., marking the 15th anniversary of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
The event, Brooks said, will be "the largest gathering of Jewish Republicans in history" and will be the only time the seven presidential candidates - Bush, McCain, Elizabeth Dole, Malcolm Forbes, Orrin Hatch, Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes - will meet with the Jewish community all at once.
Brooks predicted that, while McCain does have a long-standing record of support for Jewish issues, and will do well among Jewish voters, "the momentum right now is with Bush."
Buchanan campaign staff declined to comment for this report.
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