Why I support Senator Obama

With all due respect, I must express my view on the upcoming election.
There are writers on the issue of Israel that I deeply respect, and am loathe to oppose.
No doubt some are more intelligent than I am, more widely traveled, even more knowledgeable.
I have read the opposition to Senator Obama, and tried to find a position that would allow me to be in agreement with his opponents, at least with his opponents on the “right” side of the Israeli issue.
I believe that not only does Israel deserve to exist, I believe she should have kept the Sinai oilfields, I agree with the Khaniists that Arabs should be payed to leave Israel if they do not support a Jewish State.
I believe Israel should launch an all out attack on Gazan terrorist strongholds.

On the other hand, America's survival and ability to survive is important to me as well, and my belief, based on my research, is that McCain Palin would be a disaster for America.

I believe that the attacks on Obama are smears.
Recently Jesse Jackson was quoted as saying that Obama would seek retribution against Zionists.
Quoting Jackson on Senator Obama is ridiculous. He despises Senator Obama.
Jackson was quoted, and filmed, saying, "I'd like to cut his (Obama's) N*ts off."
Whoever is running the McCain campaign has been counting on the big lie and the gullibility of the voters, and polls are showing that this tactic is backfiring.
I'm not a doctor, I don't know exactly what is wrong with McCain, why he reverses wording during debates, such as when he said "Palin is a bresh of freath air", or why he can't remember what he was asked, or what he has said in the past, or his odd demeanor, but in my view, and I do have clinical experience working with gerontological populations in a diagnostic and therapeutic setting, I believe he is not well.
I think the election comes down to who do you believe, and during the last debate, with the split screen showing the facial contortions of John McCain and the calm, open expression of Obama, it typifies what most voters seem to feel, that Obama is speaking truthfully and McCain is saying what he is told. Jews have been among Obama's earliest and most ardent backers.
One longtime Jewish observer of the political scene, who did not want to be identified, said admiringly that "Jews made him. Wherever you look, there is a Jewish presence."
The Jewish community has been a particular target of e-mails declaring Obama a secret Muslim who attended a madrassa in Indonesia, took his Senate oath of office by swearing on a Quran and is aligned with Muslim terrorists.
Those allegations have been thoroughly dis proven by mainstream media and other sources.
After a stint as a community organizer, working for the poor,Obama took a job at a civil rights law firm, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, led by Judson Miner, a Jew, and a well-known Chicago civil rights attorney. Working at Miner's firm introduced Obama to many in the city's liberal community, and during his state Senate tenure, he gained other supporters, including Illinois Sen. Ira Silverstein, an Orthodox Jew who shared an office with him in Springfield. They also shared carpooling duties when both their children attended the pre-nursery at Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School.
Silverstein continues to support Obama and said he is disturbed that "there is lot of bad information out there, a lot of miscommunication, misinformation that has been proved false" about the senator.
He said he and Obama often shared their pro-Israel feelings and that when Silverstein sponsored numerous resolutions condemning PLO bombings, Obama eagerly signed on as a co-sponsor. "I know him," he said. "People can read what they want to in the press, but I know him personally and I can testify to" his pro-Israel views. "That's different than hitting a blog," he said. "If people don't want to listen to me they don't have to, but there's a lot of hearsay out there."

Why Jews Should Vote for Barack Obama
Letty cottin pogrebin
If you care about the well-being of Jews and Israel, by now the incessant Republican attacks on Barack Obama may have persuaded you to be wary of the Democratic candidate. Parse the poison, however, and you will see that it is nouvelle racism grafted to pure unadulterated right-wing bunk. This election’s top Swiftboating trick (the Jews for Obama Newsletter calls it “schvitz-boating”) is to make you believe Senator Obama is both a secret Muslim and in the thrall of loudmouthed Christian minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Right-wing operatives make snide references to black-Jewish conflicts of the past—Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson’s “Hymietown” statement, the Crown Heights riots—in a transparent attempt to associate Obama—merely because of his race—with hostile African-Americans, and to imply that he sympathizes with the enemies of the Jewish people.
Scurrilous emails link Obama to the leader of the Nation of Islam, despite the senator having expressly stated: “I decry racism and anti-Semitism and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan.” Slash-and-burn opposition forces—including, shamefully, Senator Joseph Lieberman—want you to believe Barack Obama is “anti-Israel,” when, in fact, his record of support for the Jewish state has been attested to by such “pro-Israel” lawmakers as Senators Carl Levin, Ben Cardin, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden, Barbara Boxer and Frank Lautenberg, and by no less a conservative voice than the New York Sun.
The attackers also hope you’ll swallow their claim that the candidate is soft on Iran, though he has declared emphatically, “I will do everything in my power—everything—to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon.”
Having so often been the target of rumors and disinformation, Jews ought to be suspicious of crazy and loaded accusations.
But some in our community—reportedly many senior citizens, and Jews for whom Israel is a political litmus test—have fallen for the smear and scare tactics.
I have include some comments from Jewish voters below who are not buying the failed policies of the last eight years, and don't want to see another eight years of failure by pusrsuing the same mistaken ideas.
I am a Louisiana-born religiously observant Jew who lives in Baltimore, MD, and teaches Yiddish literature at the Johns Hopkins University. I support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign without reservation and with 100% enthusiasm, and I am convinced that he provides the best hope available for all Americans to live in a prosperous and secure nation that pursues peace for itself and other nations.
I share the alarm of many signatories on this list that many American Jews, including friends and acquaintances of mine, have developed a diametrically false impression of Senator Obama because of misleading and dishonest innuendo; I think it would be a tremendous misfortune for American Jews that after having been at the forefront of so many progressive movements we as a collectivity would miss an opportunity to participate in the first important progressive coalition of the 21st century. I am confident that at the top of his agenda as president will be a renewal of engagement in the middle East peace process, withdrawal from our disastrous Iraqi adventure, and a definitive end to the genocide in Darfur.
Each of these priorities will restore America’s reputation abroad, make the middle East a better and safer place, and speak to the moral and strategic needs of Jews throughout the world.

Comment by Marc Caplan — March 2, 2008 @ 12:31 am I support Barack Obama because tikkun olam can only happen with an open hand and and open heart — not with a closed fist and a closed heart. I believe that Senator Obama has qualities of innate empathy which will allow tikkun olam to become a movement,and not just a phrase. Comment by Joan Hitlin — March 2, 2008 @ 1:03 am I resent efforts by non-jews to bait our community into opposing Obama. He is the man for the moment, for all of us.Comment by Deborah Lewis — March 1, 2008 @ 3:16 am Deborah Lewis I am an orthodox Jew and I support Barack Obama because he shows a rare wisdom among politicians, the wisdom to see not only the world as it is but also the world as it might be. Senator Obama understands that in order to overcome the scourge of organized money in Washington we must mobilize and become organized people, and that in doing so we will find to power to challenge the special interests and challenge ourselves to be better parents, better neighbors, and better citizens. Comment by Avraham Nemon Barack Obama understands that it’s how we treat our fellows that gives our lives meaning. And he acts on that understanding. My parents and grandparents would have been proud to participate in this moment and what it signifies.

Comment by Joel Menachim Shearer — March 1, 2008 @ 12:49 am We support Barack Obama for many reasons, not least of which is that he is the first candidate for president in our lifetime who talks about Tikun Olam (healing the world). He understands that true change has to come from all of us working for it. Yes We Can! Comment by Ellen and Sam Bender — March 1, 2008 @ 1:02 am he embodies peace, hope, vision and wisdom and a high neshama. that is what judaism is about.

Comment by jacqueline klein — March 1, 2008 @ 1:27 am I am a strong supporter of Senator Obama. However, I do not take for granted that all jews would necessarily agree with my personal reasons. We are a diverse community and we have different focuses. Regardless of who we choose to vote for, I do think its essential for us ALL to stand in solidarity with Senator Obama on this one big issue. We cannot remain silent in the face of this evil smear campaign. Senator Obama is being targeted in the most viscious and despicable way by both those within and outside the jewish community. Given our history, I think the jewish people in this country who recognize the manipulation and fear-mongering that is going on have a moral obligation to speak up against it. We must firmly DENOUNCE and REJECT the people and tactics that would use hate and fear to unfairly malign a good and decent man.

Comment by Donna Matorin LePard — March 1, 2008 @ 2:05 am I have to say, I’ve been shocked at the vicious campaign to defame Senator Obama. I’m not entirely sure how this “anti-israel, anti-semitic” meme was started, but it needs to end. Now. And this is a great first step, coming full circle. As Senator Obama said in the last debate, he wouldn’t be where he is today without Jewish support in the Civil Rights era. In turn, I believe he will be the best president for the American Jewish community that we have ever witnessed.

Why anyone would consider Bush/McCain to be a friend of Israel, I don't know.
Here is some vintage Bush on Israel:
THE PRESIDENT: "Good
afternoon. In recent
weeks, debate in our
country has rightly
focused on the situation
in Iraq -- yet Iraq is not
the only pivotal matter in
the Middle East. More than
five years ago, I became
the first American
President to call for the
creation of a Palestinian
state. In the Rose Garden,
I said that Palestinians
should not have to live in
poverty and occupation.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
news/releases/2007/07/2007
0716-7.html
Bush was asked about the
settlements. He said:
"Outposts, yeah, they
ought to go."
The criticisms were a
reiteration of statements
he made that
settlements not
authorized by the Israeli
government were an
"impediment to peace".
Their removal is a key
part of the revived US
"road map".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2008/jan/09/usa.isra
elandthepalestinians
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:
"I've been very clear about
Israel has an obligation
under the road map. That's
no expansion of
settlements."
http://www.pbs.org/newshou
r/bb/middle_east/jan-
june05/israel_4-11.html

They have heavily armed our enemies and given billions of dollars in aid to countries who are Israel's bitterest enemies.
As for the comment that Jews favor socialism, the largest governent investment in the private sector in our nation's history was proposed by Bush.
Even the few supporters he has left have called the Bush Bailout, "Socialism".
I think the one charge that McCain has made repeatedly, and he made it twice during the last debate, is that Obama is "eloquent."
As if being inarticulate like Bush/McCain is a virtue.
Personally, I believe that being able to speak properly and communicate effectively is a good thing.
And so, apparently, do most of the electorate.