Steve Sheffey’s Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update, July 8, 2018

This Is How It’s Done

Friends,

George Washington to Donald Trump is the mirror-image of that famous evolution diagram. Sixty-million of our fellow Americans thought that bigotry, ignorance, and vulgarity did not disqualify someone from the presidency and voted for Donald Trump. Not all of those voters were bigots. Some surely were. But they all voted for bigotry and for bigoted policies. Many of the rights that we celebrated on the Fourth of July are in jeopardy.

The good news is that 63 million Americans disagreed. Don’t be discouraged by what our country has become; be inspired by what this country should be to make this country all it can be–for everyone. Speak up, organize, and vote. Never give up.

We won’t persuade anyone to vote Democratic by telling them that they voted for a bigot in 2016. But don’t worry–as large as the distribution list for this newsletter is, it’s not quite at 60 million, and my guess is that most of you didn’t vote for Trump. I’m not writing to them. I’m writing to you. We can’t win if we don’t understand what we are up against. We should not write off anyone, and if you think you can persuade someone who even now still supports Trump, go for it. However, at some point we have to accept that some people are not persuadable and that the only way to win elections in a country where 60 million people would vote for Trump is to turn out our votes.

Fortunately, principled conservatives, Americans who can relate to at least some of those 60 million, are speaking up. Max Boot wrote that the GOP used to be a “conservative party with a white-nationalist fringe. Now it’s a white-nationalist party with a conservative fringe…a vote for the GOP in November is also a vote for egregious obstruction of justice, rampant conflicts of interest, the demonization of minorities, the debasement of political discourse, the alienation of America’s allies, the end of free trade and the appeasement of dictators.”

How to maintain bipartisan support for Israel: A Case Study. We need to be careful with litmus tests, but it’s a safe bet that someone who does not oppose the BDS Movement is at best fundamentally misinformed about the BDS Movement and the Israel-Palestinian conflict and at worst is not pro-Israel.

Many of us were therefore alarmed when we found that a family foundation co-chaired by Scott Wallace, the Democratic candidate in PA-1, contributed to several organizations that support BDS. Democratic Jewish Outreach of Pennsylvania declined to back Wallace, and the Republican Jewish Coalition launched a $500,000 campaign against Wallace (which referenced the position taken by DJOP).

What happened next should happen any time any candidate from either party is questioned about his or her commitment to Israel: Members of the community reached out to Wallace for his side of the story. Wallace clarified his position and issued a position statement on Israel that could serve as a model throughout the country. Wallace stated that “I firmly oppose the BDS movement, which is hostile to Israel and incompatible with any balanced approach to a two-state solution. I expressly disavow the BDS grants which were made in the past by my family’s foundation, the Wallace Global Fund. They were made at the initiative of another board member, from discretionary grant funds not controlled by me.”

DJOP then endorsed Wallace, stating that “His strong statement of support and understanding should put to rest any doubts of Mr. Wallace’s commitment to Israel’s security and the critical importance of the special relationship between the U.S. and the Jewish State.” If elected, Wallace would become one of the few members of Congress with cousins in Israel.

From a pro-Israel perspective, that’s exactly the result we want. The goal is not to prevent candidates from explaining questions that arise or to prevent candidates from articulating pro-Israel views. The goal is to work with candidates toward agreement on issues of concern to the pro-Israel community. That’s exactly what happened here. We now know–as is so often the case–that Israel is not an issue in PA-1, and voters can focus on where the candidates truly differ.

Unfortunately, the Republican Jewish Coalition shows no signs of letting this good news from a pro-Israel perspective interfere with what are now clearly attempts to smear Wallace on Israel. That might be a good strategy for electing Republicans, but anytime either party distorts a candidate’s record on Israel for partisan gain, that’s very bad news for the U.S.-Israel relationship. Republicans who sincerely care about Israel should demand that the RJC cease and desist.

Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) again failed the test of moral leadership. Last week, I was quoted in this article urging everyone to question all Illinois Republicans about the IL-3 congressional race. Rauner was questioned last week. He failed. Then he failed again.

Here is the correct answer: “The only candidate who can defeat Arthur Jones is Dan Lipinski, so we are urging everyone to vote for Lipinski.” Why is that so hard? Who are our Republican friends afraid of offending?

ICYMI. We learned on July 3 that the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Every American should be outraged that a foreign power interfered in our election, but our Republican friends remain silent.

Meet Betsy Dirksen Londrigan on July 18. Londrigan is running against incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL). She can win with our help. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and City Councilman Alyssa Knobel are hosting an event for her on Wednesday, July 18 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at a private residence in Highland Park. I’m one of the co-hosts, and I hope you can join us. RSVP here.

Londrigan believes that “a strong relationship with Israel is vital to the national security interests of the United States.” She is “unequivocally opposed to the Global BDS Movement and related boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns. The anti-Semitic rhetoric that BDS uses is unacceptable and has no place in the debate. Furthermore, these tactics move us farther away from peace and attempt to isolate Israel from the rest of the world.” Let’s elect her to Congress.