By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One thing we know about elections is that Jewish voters can make a difference. Take Florida: The Sunshine State’s Jewish voters helped deliver its critical electoral votes to Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Problematic ballots in heavily Jewish Broward County may...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jamaal Bowman, the middle school principal who challenged longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in New York’s 16th District, has declared victory based on his 2-1 lead among voters who headed to the polls for this week’s primary. Mail-in votes are still being counted, so Engel, the...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — It would seem that most of us agree, left and right, that Black lives matter and that policing reform is long overdue. But there are fissures and fractures under the surface, arguments over the solutions and the candidates most capable of leading us to a...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s five months to Election Day and America is in the midst of at least two national crises. The unrest reverberating throughout the land from the coronavirus pandemic and George Floyd killing is plunging Donald Trump’s polling numbers. The president trails the presumptive Democratic nominee,...
Continue Reading ⇒
By GABE FRIEDMAN
Ron is on vacation, so his colleagues are attempting to fill in this week. (JTA) –This week’s big story, of course, is the sweeping national protests against police brutality and racism.
We’ve covered the responses from Jewish leaders and groups, and there have been many: Some 130...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — James Mackler, a Jewish veteran who flew Black Hawk helicopters in combat in Iraq, wears his faith on his sleeve in his bid as a Democrat to win the open Senate seat in Tennessee. Mackler, 47, an attorney who still serves in the National...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — During the last congressional elections, in 2018, the overarching story was the rise and eventual success of “the resistance,” the Democrats spurred to run for Congress simply because they loathed everything that President Donald Trump stood for. They included some inspired by the Women’s...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Here’s my completely beside-the-point thought on the latest political developments: Are we living through a weighty HBO political drama? Or a raunchy satirical take on Showtime?
That guy from Season 1 of “The Trump Years” — the one with the striking martial...
Continue Reading ⇒
BY RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joe Biden’s vision is expanding, literally: The page on his website labeled “Joe’s Vision” has about doubled in the last week or so, to 35 categories.
The most recent is “Joe Biden’s Agenda for the Jewish Community.” We’ve discussed here how central one of Biden’s...
Continue Reading ⇒
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Last week we scanned Joe Biden’s Jewish campaign for trends and themes. Now it’s Donald Trump’s turn.
Our reviews are impressionistic, not comprehensive — left out of last week’s accounting were prominent Jewish Biden supporters including former ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, former Obama Jewish...
Continue Reading ⇒