Politics: Chosen People

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics Chosen People The Republican candidates fight it out over who's good for the Jews. By David Weigel Posted Thursday, Dec 08, 2011, at 01:31 AM ET Rick Santorum found his place, right on top of a circular platform shaped like the presidential seal, and told the supporters of the Republican Jewish Coalition that they were being proven right. "We've seen a dramatic transformation in this country," said Santorum, "with Jews all across this country now understanding that the values of the Republican Party are in concert with theirs." Santorum gave the credit to the RJC. They took it. When 360-odd conference attendees arrived for this day of speeches and briefings, they got info packets reminding them of how the 25-year-old RJC bought ads in Anthony Weiner's old district, successfully convincing Jewish voters to cast an anti-Democrat, anti-Obama vote. They ran into old friends like Frank Gaffney, Daniel Pipes, and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. They got offered red, white, and blue buttons with the slogan "Obama … OY VEY!" When they put them on, they became targets for teams of reporters hoping to figure out whether Republicans will win the Jewish vote. Short answer: no. Even in the polls that give Republicans hope (like a summer Gallup survey), Barack Obama retains solid majority support from Jews. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, dropped through the RJC's hermetic seal to assure reporters that this event was a sham. "Every election, they say that this is going to be the year Republicans win over Jews," he said. "It never happens. What you're seeing here is a very vocal minority." Some attendees even acknowledged that. "I ... 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 Two People Dead in Virginia Tech Shooting, Gunman Still at Large America, You Can Kiss That Dream of High-Speed Trains Good-Bye Forever The 17 Best Books of 2011	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036