Obama and the Jews III: Bloomberg Steps In June 22, 2008

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg stepped up to the plate for Barack Obama on Friday forcefully denouncing anti-Obama propaganda e-mails directed at the Jewish community, the New York Times reported yesterday. Bloomberg, in a rare display of faith, spoke to Jewish communities in South Florida denouncing the e-mails as “lies” and raising speculation about an outright Obama endorsement, or perhaps even an Obama-Bloomberg ticket:

Speaking before a crucial constituency in the coming election, Jewish voters, in the pivotal state of Florida, Mr. Bloomberg said that rumors of Mr. Obama secretly being a Muslim represent “wedge politics at its worst, and we have to reject it — loudly, clearly and unequivocally.”

“Let’s call those rumors what they are: lies,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for both Mr. Obama and Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee.

Residents of South Florida, home to the second-largest population of Jews in the United States after New York City, have received e-mail messages claiming that Mr. Obama sympathizes with radical Islam and does not support Israel. Mr. Obama, a Christian, has repeatedly rejected both claims.

The article continues:

Mr. Bloomberg is Jewish, but he rarely discusses his faith in public. On Friday, he broke with that tradition. He joked about sitting through long Jewish holiday services (“I thought Yom Kippur was the longest day of the year”) and referred to “our people.” Mr. Bloomberg, an outspoken supporter of Israel, said that fears about Mr. Obama’s faith “are cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics.”

“Israel is just being used as a pawn, which is not that surprising, since some people are willing to stoop to any level to win an election,” he said.

Jewish voters, he added, “have a particular obligation” to fight such false claims.

A particular obligation.

A particular obligation to declare that Obama’s “links to radical Islam” are outright lies, that Obama is not a Muslim but an observant Christian, to declare that Obama’s future will be adamantly Wright-free.

Obviously lie-filled emails like these also damage Jewish-Muslim relations as well, with Bloomberg also saying that this most recent email campaign “threatens to undo the enormous strides that Jews and Muslims have made together in this country.”

The National Jewish Democratic Council also recently released their “Obama vs. McCain - A Jewish Perspective” checklist, worth reading (even if they connect their premise only to “progressive” values).

Jews in particular — but all American Democrats also — need to realize that there is far too much on the line when the election contest is Obama vs. “in Iraq for 100 years.” There is far too much on the line when the economy is in recession, human rights are under suppression and the people are feeling depression. From health care to the economy to homeland security to domestic spending — America is in desperate need of change and one should shudder at the thought of four more years of Bush policies, whether foreign or domestic.

America deserves far more than this, far better than this. America deserves the positive change that Obama represents — the tikkun if you will — and I hope all Jewish Democrats (and Independents, and even some Republicans) realize that this November.