If You're Jewish, Should You Feel Guilty If You Don't Vote For Lieberman?

[Pale Blue Dot]

This is an actual article from the magazine section of the Hartford Courant today. It features a full page picture of Lieberman with the Jewish Star prominently displayed in the upper right corner.

Chai Society members talk about "Joe," Connecticut's incumbent U.S. senator, as if he's family. They still kvell about the moment six years ago when Al Gore picked Lieberman as his vice presidential running mate, making him the first Jew on a major party ticket. Though Lieberman lost the Democratic primary last August to political newcomer and anti-war candidate Ned Lamont, forcing the senator to run as a petitioning independent candidate, most in the room here are standing by him come Nov. 7.

You might think Lieberman would have a lock on the Jewish vote in his home state. Indeed Beth El's Rabbi James S. Rosen, who was in Israel during the primary, said Israelis were shocked at the results. They couldn't believe that Lieberman, an observant Jew known for not campaigning or working on the Sabbath, hadn't received at least 98 percent of the Jewish vote, instead of the 61 percent a New York Times/CBS exit poll said he captured. This obviously means that more than one-third of Connecticut's Jewish voters in the primary rejected Lieberman. Even 18 years ago, the last time Lieberman ran in a competitive race, when he upset then-incumbent Sen. Lowell P. Weicker, 45 percent of the Jewish vote went for Weicker, according to a CBS News exit poll.

The split in the state's Jewish community of 125,00 actually should come as no surprise. Interviews with Jewish political strategists, academics, party insiders, voters, rabbis and Jewish community leaders suggest that the so-called Jewish vote no longer stands as monolithic as it might have been 50 years ago, if it ever was. "We Jewish people tend to disagree all the time. Every page of Talmud has disagreements," says Rabbi David Avigdor, leader of Bikur Cholim Sheveth Achim, an Orthodox synagogue in New Haven, and a personal friend of Lieberman's.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/northeast/hc-jewishvote1001.artoct01,0,5555934.story?coll=hc-northeast-top

I'm not sure how I feel about this article, even though it is mostly favorable for Lamont. Could the Courant get away with publishing an article asking if Christians should feel guilty for not supporting Lamont, with a full page picture of Lamont and an image of a cross?

The article makes the assumption that Lieberman's religion/ethnicity should have something to do with his candidacy. It doesn't.

[ck4829]

1. If I were black, should I feel guilty if I don't vote for Blackwell?

NO!

Let's stop trying to divide ourselves by ethnic lines people.

[Misskittycat]

2. No. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

3. Genius

[skids]

4. I thought Jewish people felt guilty no matter what they did.

:silly: :+

[xultar]

10. Nope. That's Catholics.

:rofl:

[skids]

13. Oh right.

I remember now. For Jewish folks, guilt must be installed by one's mother. For Catholics, it comes on its own.

[virgdem]

14. The really important thing to remember about guilt..

Jews invented it, Catholics perfected it.

[VeggieTart]

15. Ha!

But, no, I wouldn't vote for a candidate just becuase s/he's a member of the tribe. I'd want to know the candidate's positions on a woman's right to choose, on animal issues, on freedom of speech issues, and so on and so forth.

[Tinksrival]

5. Who do I vote for?

Are there any Swedish atheists running for office?

[11 Bravo]

6. If you're a Democrat, you should feel guilty if you do.

[ktowntennesseedem]

7. I know plenty of Baptists

who had no problem at all voting against fellow Baptists Carter, Clinton and Gore.

[StellaBlue]

8. Back in 2000, I was passing out leaflets on my college campus for...

Nader (don't flame me - I am in Texas, so my vote didn't count, and we were trying to get the Green Party 5% in the general election so they would get matching funds in the future). Despite some reservations, I decided to approach the student Jewish group's table, as I did all other student orgs, to talk to them about Nader.

They all went nuts and started verbally abusing me and berating me for not supporting Lieberman. Not Gore, mind you, Lieberman. As if him being Jewish should be a reason to vote for him.

:eyes:

Well, I hope they are proud of Joe now, that's all I can say.

[virgdem]

9. Religion made no difference to me...

in 1988, when I voted for Weicker. As a Jew, I felt no obligation or fealty to Lieberman to vote for him. I accept or reject a candidate based on several factors, and religion is at the bottom of my list.

[savemefromdumbya]

11. I wouldn't p*** on him if he was on fire

no I wouldn't vote for him

[npincus]

12. that question is an insult

to my Jewish self.

Anyone who votes on that basis is an a-hole, in my book. I knnow the OP writer agrees (sans term 'a-hole').

[Recursion]

16. How did this idiocy get started?

It's like how conservatives thought (and I think they honestly thought this) that black people "should" support Clarence Thomas or hispanics "should" support Alberto Gonzalez simply because of their race. And I think that's the problem: Democrats (at least many of us) are actually capable of seeing past race, and Republicans aren't. So they are amazed that we would make decisions based on anything but that.

[Bluebear]

17. Not to mention Sen. Allen! nt

[Pachamama]

18. If you are a Jew, remember that there were Jews that were complicit in

helping the Nazis lock up and intern other Jews....

If you are Jewish, remember that when you look at Joe Lieberman and know that the way he has been helping the Bush administration is no different than those traitorous Jews who sold out their own to the Nazis to save their own skin. That's who Joe Lieberman is if his being Jewish is to be considered.