Wesley Clark's Jewish connections: Part II

Wesley Clark is fourth Democratic candidate touting his Jewish connections

by Ken Francis

As it turns out, the timing of the Jewish Times article couldn't be better for Clark, for the kosher credentials of the candidates can be a asset in some precincts, as Howard Dean (photo, right, with wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg) has found out while making the rounds in New York City.

“New Yorkers are tough; they want to know what you’ve got,” says Dean. “But I’ve never had people open their hearts to me more than when they discover that my wife is Jewish and I’m from New York. They look at you completely differently. It’s flabbergasting.”

This might not be enough for Dean, however, who has been under attack by the Anti-Defamation League and nearly three dozen members of Congress for his remark that the United States "ought not to take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Forward, another Jewish publication, reported that Dean hastily sent off letters to the offended parties clarifying his stand,

But Mandell Ganchrow, a Republican pro-Israel activist whose political action committee has raised money for Democrats, said Dean had hurt himself with his remarks. "Dean may have a Jewish wife, but he doesn't have a Jewish heart," Ganchrow said. "He's staking out a position on the far left. He's not going to get Lieberman people. He's making a calculated effort that the Peace Now people and others are going to help him. If Dean gets the nomination, there's no question in my mind the chances of Bush carrying New York and New Jersey are vastly increased." (Campaign Confidential; emphasis added to Ganchow's comments)

No sooner had Dean recanted, then he misspoke again and this time John Kerry (photo, left) was quick to pounce on his faux pas. When Dean described members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (better known as Hamas) as "soldiers," instead of "terrorists," Kerry said he "insults the memory of every innocent man, woman and child killed by these suicidal murderers." Joe Liberman also blasted Dean for not being sufficiently supportive of Israel. (Kerry, Liberman blast Dean's Palestinian position)

Then again, the Liberman campaign has been quick to question the Jewishness of not just Dean, but all the other candidates. Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera quipped: "Oy vey. All this talk about who is Jewish and who isn't is absolutely meshuga. That said, there's only one candidate in this race with a real lox box." (Joe Lieberman: More Jewish Grandparents than the other guy) Oddly enough, however, it is this very fact that may cost him votes in the Jewish community. The St. Petersburg Times reports that some Jews think this Americans aren't ready to elect one of their coreligionists president, though, and are looking in another direction for another candidate. (Fear erodes Lieberman's support)

And considering the growing media hoopla surrounding him, for many of them Wesley Clark may be the candidate. E. J. Kessler, a columnist for Forward notes that Clark is actively wooing the Jewish vote and looking to pad his campaigns bankroll with donations from the kosher bloc:

¼the newest entry in the Democratic presidential race has wasted no time in bringing his fledgling campaign to Jewish precincts — and by this week he seemed poised to inherit some Jewish voters uncomfortable with the war but uneasy about some positions of another anti-war contender, former Vermont governor Howard Dean.

On September 18, the day after his announcement in Little Rock, Ark., Clark held a late-afternoon meeting with South Florida

Democrats at the Deli Den, a "kosher-style" restaurant in Hollywood, Fla., a heavily Jewish city in Broward County.

"One of his first stops was not only Florida — the only swing mega-state — but where does he pick to go? Broward, my county," crowed Mitch Ceasar, the Broward Democratic chairman, who attended the meeting at the restaurant, his father's favorite hangout.

The move looked like smart politics — and not only because of Florida's electoral heft. In order to be a viable candidate, Clark will have to build up his campaign coffers with lightning speed, and Florida, with its many wealthy Jewish retirees who play the political field, is a good place to do that.

Ceasar, who is Jewish, said Clark has the potential to reap a windfall among Broward's rich donor base despite the attention the other Democratic candidates are paying to the region. "The main players here are [Connecticut Senator Joseph] Lieberman (photo, right)

, [Florida Senator Bob] Graham and, to some extent, Dean," he said, but there is ample room for Clark in part because "it's not like any major fundraisers [here] are committed to Dean."

Clark was generating buzz in New York's Jewish donor circles after a hurriedly arranged fundraiser Monday night in Manhattan. "I think Clark might just take the wind out of the sail of Dean's balloon," said lawyer Stuart Shorenstein, whose wife went to check out the general. "I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people gravitating over."

The idea that Clark would gain among Jewish voters at the expense of Dean was also promoted by Rep. Steve Israel, a New York congressman who was one of the first in the House to endorse Clark. "Oh yeah," is how Israel responded when asked whether Dean had hurt himself with recent remarks advocating a neutralist posture toward Arab-Israeli negotiations. Clark, meanwhile, garnered rave reviews when he spoke in Long Island a couple of weeks ago to the Long Island Foreign Affairs Forum, a group of 100 business leaders, Israel said.

"For Jewish voters who are concerned about terrorism and who want a president with a constructive and thoughtful strategy for dealing with terrorism, Wesley Clark is extremely appealing," Israel said. "No other candidate has a lock on New York's Jewish voters. I think General Clark has that opportunity.¼" (Wesley Clark Jumps in With Kosher-Style Kickoff )

Unfortunately, there is far more to be concerned about in his background than merely ancestors wearing yarmulkes and tallits or his popularity with the lox and bagel crowd.

Part III: The Clinton Factor

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