Ron Paul's Unkosher Track Record

by Amanda Walgrove Representative Ron Paul announced his bid for the presidency over a week ago, but not before taking a hit from the Republican Jewish Coalition. Foreseeing the problems that Paul's candidacy would cause for Jewish Republicans, RJC executive director Matt Brooks took the precaution of expressing concern about Paul a day before the Texas congressman announced his campaign, saying that Paul's "misguided and extreme views" are not representative of the Republican Party. While Brooks is correct, the Republicans have yet to produce many convincing contenders who could pull the spotlight away from Paul and highlight views toward Israel that can be representative of the GOP. Some say that his policies don’t reflect any anti-Jewish sentiments, but rather just a broad isolationist view, which happens to include cutting aid to Israel. But this isn’t the...

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Ron Paul’s Unkosher Track Record

by Amanda Walgrove Representative Ron Paul announced his bid for the presidency over a week ago, but not before taking a hit from the Republican Jewish Coalition. Foreseeing the problems that Paul's candidacy would cause for Jewish Republicans, RJC executive director Matt Brooks took the precaution of expressing concern about Paul a day before the Texas congressman announced his campaign, saying that Paul's "misguided and extreme views" are not representative of the Republican Party. While Brooks is correct, the Republicans have yet to produce many convincing contenders who could pull the spotlight away from Paul and highlight views toward Israel that can be representative of the GOP. Some say that his policies don’t reflect any anti-Jewish sentiments, but rather just a broad isolationist view, which happens to include cutting aid to Israel. But this isn’t the...

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RJC Running Negative Poll On Obama's Jewish Issues

Have you gotten a call from the Republican Jewish Coalition recently? If you live in a contested state like Florida, Michigan, or Ohio, you just might have. You might have thought it was just another pollster, and were ready to hang up... These kinds of polling phone calls are commonplace in battleground states during an election year. But what makes the RJC's recent phone initiative distinctive is the controversial line of questioning, which has Barack Obama supporters up in arms. ABC News, Politico, and Ha'aretz reported on the calls, which implied or said that Obama had given money to the Palestine Liberation Operation, that Hamas supported Obama and that Obama's Middle East advisers are pro-Palestinian, among other things. Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic blogged about the surprising experience of his call from the RJC. It was...

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