Politics: The Battle for Florida?s Jews

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Politics The Battle for Florida's Jews It turns out it's not much of a battle after all. By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012, at 10:49 PM ET WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— On the flight into Fort Lauderdale's airport, if you look to the right of the plane, you see the first billboard: "Friends Don't Let Friends Get Nuked. STOP OBAMA." A cartoon map of Israel, colored white and blue and decorated with a Star of David, is being hit by an ICBM. On I-95, the route up to the heart of south Florida's Jewish heartland, you see more signs in the same garish colors portraying the president bowing to a Saudi prince. The billboards are paid for by the American Principles super PAC. A photo of the one I saw led a spooky New York Times story this week as an example of the "strident messages" arriving in swing states. It's also an example of how the noise of this campaign outmatches the signal. The PAC has reported only $126,000 in funds and handed most of it over to CBS Outdoor, the billboard company. Emails to its official address bounce back; phone calls to their offices ricochet off a full file of voice mail. The campaign to turn nervous Jews against Barack Obama's Democrats might turn out to be a bust. And after such high hopes! The president's relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu has been one long Adam Sandler movie of pratfalls and accidental insults. In July, a Gallup poll gave Obama a meager 64-29 lead among Jewish voters. It was, as the Palm Beach-based Newsmax pointed out, the worst Democratic ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Battle for Florida's Jews It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too The Problem With Palin's "Shuck and Jive"	Advertisement
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