Hotline: Coffee Talk With Ken (Mehlman) And Howard (Dean).

[Pirate Smile]

March 01, 2006

Coffee Talk With Ken And Howard

Earlier this week, the Jewish Council of Publics Affairs heard from the heads of the RNC and DNC on why their respective parties deserve the Jewish vote. Our report:

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, a self-proclaimed "nice Jewish boy from Baltimore," asked the crowd of about 500, "Why would someone like me support Pres. Bush?" Because Bush -- and the GOPers in general -- will stand up against terror and protect Israel. In fact, so many Jews are working for Bush, "we used to joke that 'The West Wing' could be called 'The West Bank,'" Mehlman told a deadpaned audience. And in Congress, Bush worked with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) to create the Dept of Homeland Security.

Mehlman argued that GOPers will never accept a nuclear Iran, view Hamas as "terrorist organization," and have always supported Israel's "right and responsibility" to defend itself. Bush will "unhesitatingly, unapologetically, unwaveringly" stand with Israel. It's why he chose to disarm Saddam Heussein. Unlike those who gave Hitler a pass, Bush confronts and disarms threats, he added. While the crowd didn't quite get behind that argument, they were eager to hear the RNC chair condemn Iran. In all it was the only one of Mehlman's 4 themes - reform the UN, support Israel, stop Iran and help Darfur - that seemed to get much applause.

DNC Chair Howard Dean received a much warmer, welcoming reception when he finally arrived, awkwardly late. Right off the bat, Dean thanked the Jews "for voting for our guy" by a 3-1 margin. The DNC chair immediatly went after the Bush admin port deal: "I want first to speak about defense. ... Today we see the specter, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, of a company who is about to take over American ports, which actively continues today to boycott Israel." Dean hammered the admin on Iran, almost as if he was trying to one-up Mehlman's condemnation. Interestingly though, Dean did not once mention the word "Iraq" throughout his speech. Only in the response to a softball question about Katrina did Dean touch Iraq; and it was only to note that resources "that would have been available" were not.

Unlike Mehlman, the DNC chair spent time talking domestic politics: he and his Jewish wife believe in pluralism, they want Jews to feel comfortable practicing religion and will not accept religion in the gov't domain. He understands the values of the Jewish community because they are linked to Dem values. "Moral issues," like taking care of those less fortunate are at the core of Dem philosophy, Dean said. In all, Dean took about a dozen questions to Mehlman's 3. The last question perhaps summed up the audience's mood and preference best: "You were incredibly adept at organizing grassroots" in '04, "what is our plan for this cycle?"

Posted at 06:34 PM

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