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Reflecting on the Midterms – JDCA Weekly Roundup

August 17, 2018

Friends,

As we approach the midterm elections in 80 days, the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) is energizing the Jewish vote and encouraging a strong turnout in our community because we know that every vote counts and these will be extremely close elections. Turnout is not something we can take for granted. As the Pew Research Center demonstrated last week, non-voters handed Donald Trump the presidency in 2016. We won’t let that happen again.

The Jewish vote will be crucial in determining the outcome of the midterm elections because many of the races will come down to margins that are less than the size of the Jewish electorate in those districts or states. In addition, there are relatively large Jewish populations in states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and California, where we will defend and pick-up critical seats that will determine which party controls Congress. This is why JDCA is endorsing candidates who share our values in races where we believe our support can help to shape the outcome of the election in support of Democrats.

In recent weeks, Israel has become a hot-button issue in the election. JDCA strongly believes U.S. support of Israel should remain a bipartisan issue, and has criticized the Trump administration for politicizing Israel and trying to make it into a wedge issue for political gain. Both parties have historically demonstrated strong support for Israel, and one need look no further than the congressional record for proof that this has not changed. Congress continues to pass measures demonstrating its commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship with overwhelming bipartisan support. This includes a bill enacted just this week that authorized the U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed to by President Obama.

The Blue Wave we hope to see in November will bring to Congress dozens of newly-elected Democrats who share our strong support of Israel, including many who have received JDCA’s endorsement. For those few Democratic candidates who do not share our views, JDCA has publicly expressed concern and – in some cases – attempted to engage with the candidates. Read our statements on these candidates:

Jewish Dems Respond to Ocasio-Cortez’s Surprise Win in NY

Jewish Democratic group refuses to endorse Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar over anti-Israel statements

While JDCA has taken a principled stand in these few instances, hundreds of Democrats are running for the House and Senate in November, and nearly all strongly support the U.S.-Israel relationship. JDCA will not allow the Republican political agenda to detract from the reality of strong support for Israel within the Democratic Party, nor will we allow our foreign policy agenda be determined by a select few on the fringe of our party who do not represent our voices.

Make no mistake – Republicans in Congress are led by Donald Trump, who ran a campaign laced with anti-Semitic overtones, referred to neo-Nazis as “very fine people,” has yet to appoint a Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism, and hasn’t bothered to appoint a White House Jewish liaison. In addition, numerous white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Holocaust deniers are running as Republicans in races throughout the country. The occasional Republican condemnation of these candidates is not enough, which is why JDCA is calling on the Republican party to endorse the Democratic opponents of all these neo-Nazis running for Congress.

When heading to the polls this November, Democrats don’t need to choose between support for Israel and other values we prioritize, such as immigration, reproductive rights, education, healthcare, common sense gun laws, and the Supreme Court. Jewish support for Democratic presidential candidates has averaged around 70% over the last four decades for a good reason – only Democrats continue to support Israel and a morally sound domestic policy agenda. That is why the Democratic Party will remain the natural home of American Jews in the 2018 midterm elections.

Shabbat Shalom,

Halie Soifer
JDCA Executive Director