Obama Reaches Out to Jewish Reporters as Critical Primaries Loom
Posted By James BesserPolitical Insider: Obama Reaches Out to Jewish Reporters as Critical Primaries Loom
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Just how worried is Barack Obama about a rumor campaign heavily targeting the Jewish community and suggesting in unsubtle terms that the Democratic presidential contender is a secret Muslim?
The rumor campaign is generating an underground buzz today, but most Jewish voters "will recognize this as the kind of canard that used to be deployed against Jews and consign it to the dustbin," said University of Florida political scientist Ken Wald.
But the urban legends about Obama's Muslim past could combine with an intensifying campaign from the Jewish right depicting the candidate as soft on Israel to have a small but significant impact in a few key primary states with lots of Jewish voters - including New York and California, which vote on the February 5 Super Tuesday, and the Florida vote tomorrow night, which will not allocate delegates but which will be viewed as another indication of how the fight is shaping up.
With the contest between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton closer than ever, every primary result will be seen as an indicator of "momentum" and every single delegate is likely to count.
That's the apparent reason the candidate went on the offensive on Monday with a teleconference with Jewish reporters.
A cautious, well-briefed Obama addressed the rumors about his background directly (see the updated Jewish Week story on the campaign against him here), but also laid out views on some key Mideast issues.
He expressed strong concern about Iran's nuclear program, calling for both tougher sanctions and possible negotiations with the Iranians and expressed doubts Israel-Palestinian peace talks will advance "until we can get the Palestinians to the table not only with the will to ensure Israel's security but also the wherewithal to do so."
It was hardly an accident that he reached out to Jewish reporters a day before the Florida beauty contest and a week before the Super Tuesday brawl.