27 Aug
Stuart Baum

Stuart Baum (MI): ‘Biden Needs to Rebuild the Obama Coalition’

Stuart Baum (22), a Democrat from Detroit, MI, attended Jewish day school growing up and is a recent graduate of Wayne State University where he served as student government president. Baum is an intern in the Michigan state legislature, where he serves as a community liaison, connecting residents’ concerns with legislative priorities. He is also working at the Brennan Center for Justice on advancing and protecting voting rights. As a member of the LGBTQ community, he would like to see more attention paid to gay rights in the presidential campaign.   We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. Has Donald Trump’s presidency turned out the way you thought it...

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27 Aug
Janice Weiner

Janice Weiner (IA): ‘[Trump] Now Makes No Secret of His Racism’

Janice Weiner (61), a Democrat from Iowa City, IA, is president-elect of her synagogue, Agudas Achim, and on its safety committee, an area where she gained expertise while in the Foreign Service. She is very active in the Democratic Party, serving as first vice-chair of the Johnson County Democrats (the “bluest county in Iowa”) and was recently elected to the city council in Iowa City. She also serves on the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council. We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. Has Donald Trump’s presidency turned out the way you thought it would back in 2016 when he was first elected president? Is it better or...

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26 Aug
Josh Mandelbaum

Josh Mandelbaum (IA): ‘A Healthy Democracy Relies on Citizen Participation’

Josh Mandelbaum (40), a Democrat from Des Moines, IA, comes from a long line of Iowans and attends Temple B’nai Jeshurun, the congregation his great-great-grandfather helped found in 1873. He works for the nonprofit Environmental Law Policy Center on clean energy and clean water issues. He has volunteered for political campaigns for more than 20 years and currently serves on the greater Des Moines Jewish Federation Board. We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. Has Donald Trump’s presidency turned out the way you thought it would back in 2016 when he was first elected president? Is it better or worse than you expected? I think Donald Trump’s poor...

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26 Aug
Bud Hockenberg

Bud Hockenberg (IA): ‘The Democratic Campaign Is Obama’s Third Term’

Bud Hockenberg (92), a Republican from Des Moines IA, is the former president of the Des Moines Jewish Federation and a founding member of what is now the Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as of Iowans Supporting Israel, a bipartisan group. He is a fourth-generation Des Moines resident and former president of the Conservative synagogue Tifereth Israel. He is still a “very active” attorney and recently attended his 52nd consecutive AIPAC conference. We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. Has Donald Trump’s presidency turned out the way you thought it would back in 2016 when he was first elected president? Is it better or worse than you...

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26 Aug
Bob Schwebel

Robert Schwebel (AZ): ‘[Trump] has Succeeded in Undermining the Justice System’

Robert Schwebel (71), a Democrat from Tucson, AZ, is a clinical psychologist specializing in drug abuse. He had his bar mitzvah in Hungary, where his parents were on teaching sabbaticals. He created a drug counseling program focusing on the reasons behind addiction and recently published Leap of Power: Take Control of Alcohol, Drugs, and Your Life. Schwebel is also a human rights activist and has volunteered his time doing intake interviews for immigrants seeking asylum. We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. Has Donald Trump’s presidency turned out the way you thought it would back in 2016 when he was first elected president? Is it better or...

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16 Jun
Alan Zimmerman

Alan Zimmerman (VA): ‘I Think It Is Important for People to Get Out There and Be Counted on This Issue’

Alan Zimmerman (61), a Democrat from Charlottesville, VA, was president of Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville during the Unite the Right march in August 2017. Zimmerman remembers standing on the steps, watching armed neo-Nazis shouting “Heil Hitler.” He was “not surprised that there is anti-Semitism in America—I’m not naïve—but that it could be displayed so brazenly and even proudly in the streets of an American city was frankly shocking.” We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. What are your reactions to the protests occurring across the country? I am saddened that it took so much time and so many innocent lives, and that so much pain has...

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12 Jun
Hannah Rosenthal

Hannah Rosenthal (WI): ‘What We Need Now, Urgently, is Leadership, Competence, and Empathy’

Hannah Rosenthal (68), a Democrat from Madison, WI, originally thought she would follow her father, a 16th-generation rabbi, into the family business. Instead, she became a “professional Jew” and a “professional feminist.” Rosenthal has held a range of political and government roles, including Midwest regional director at the Department of Health and Human Services (Clinton administration) and the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism (Obama administration). We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. What are your reactions to the protests occurring across the country? The protests are inspirational. The fact that we can see them around the world is incredible. We, the United...

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10 Jun
*Ongoing Findings, Latest

Protesting, Policing and Politics: Will Our JPVP Voters Find Common Ground?

Two weeks have passed since the death of George Floyd and protesters continue to take to the streets. We asked our Jewish Political Voices Project (JPVP) participants their thoughts on the protest as well as the looting and police response. It’s important to note that these are the opinions of our voters, and while their analysis may not always be correct and is sometimes based on fake news, this is what they hear and believe based on what they see in their communities. While almost everyone agrees with people’s right to protest, the reaction to how protesters have been treated amid some of the chaos varies widely. According to Republican Lou Weiss of Pennsylvania, “police response should have been faster and stronger” while Democrat Beth Bendheim from Virginia says, “seeing first-hand how the police are...

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10 Jun
Mark Goldhaber

Mark Goldhaber (NC): ‘How Will Joe Biden Reach Across the Political Landscape to Encourage Me to Be Willing to Vote for Him?’

Mark Goldhaber (67), a Republican from Raleigh, NC, is active in the Jewish Federation and AIPAC. He previously worked for a Republican member of Congress and the National Republican Congressional Committee, and he was a Reagan appointee to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. His wife is a Democrat and he’s a Republican, which they’ve “dealt with happily for 35 years.” We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. What are your reactions to the protests occurring across the country? The killing of Mr. Floyd was unacceptable by any standard of law and the police officer must be prosecuted to the most serious charge permitted under...

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10 Jun
Eliot Strickon

Eliot Strickon (WI): ‘My Pet Rabbits Have Handled the Crisis Better Than Trump’

Eliot Strickon (54), a Democrat from Milwaukee, WI, lives in an Orthodox Jewish and African American urban community and serves on his synagogue’s board. He is the child of anthropologists who were students of Margaret Mead, and he describes himself as a Bundist (a secular Jewish socialist movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s). His grandmother joined the hatmakers union in the 1930s. Following in her footsteps, Strickon, his mother and his sister joined teachers’ unions. We are providing the unfiltered opinions of voters interviewed for this project. Those views are based on their understanding and perception of facts and information from a range of sources. In some cases, that information may be misleading or incorrect. What are your reactions to the protests occurring across the country? They are overdue. What are your reactions to the looting, curfews and the police...

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