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GOP Jewish Group Calling Jewish Voters with Questions Some Find Meshugah

September 16, 2008 9:36 PM

A Jewish Republican organization has polled 750 Jewish voters in five key battleground states -- Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- to test messages that would cause them not to vote for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told ABC News Tuesday evening that despite complaints by some liberal Jewish organizations that the calls were part of a "push poll" -- that is, designed to spread salacious information as opposed to collect views of voters -- this was a "traditional poll of issues," with 82 questions using "standard polling methodology."

The point of the calls were to explore "why Obama continues to have significant problems with Jewish voters," Brooks said.

The calls have caused some outrage among members of the Jewish community and have been reported as far away as Israel.  The fact that the RJC is behind the calls was first reported this evening by Ben Smith of the Politico.

Ben Cohen, a 37-year-old lawyer in Ohio received one of the calls last night and he was clearly offended.

"It was evocative of a time and a kind of politics that I would never want to see rise in America," Cohen told ABC News. "You shouldn't scare people to get elected  -- Jewish people have experienced that before really horrifically."

Cohen received the call at his Cleveland Heights home Monday night. The third question, he recalled, was what religion he is. After telling the woman polling him he's Jewish, Cohen was asked how often he attends synagogue -- daily, frequently, or only on the High Holidays.

"That was a little odd," Cohen said. But then the poll turned into more standard questions such as which issue was most important to him.

After Cohen said he was leaning towards voting for Obama -- he was undecided until McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee, Cohen said -- the questions took what he called an "inflammatory" turn.

"Would you still vote for Barack Obama if you knew he'd been endorsed by Hamas?" Cohen said the questioner asked.

"Would you still vote for Barack Obama if you knew he had given money to the PLO?" Cohen said the question asked.

"Would you still vote for Barack Obama if you knew he supported a divided Jerusalem?" the questioner asked, Cohen recalled.

Recalled Cohen, "as the questions became a little more untoward," he reminded the pollster that she'd said the call would be brief.

"She said she was half done," Cohen said. "And I waited because I wanted to see if she would ask the same questions about McCain that they did with Obama."

She didn't.

"Then someone else gets on the phone," Cohen said. "And he said, 'I just wanted to check: Are you Jewish?'  That was one of first questions the poll asked but at that point I felt uncomfortable answering it. it was odd. I felt like I was being targeted in the poll."

Brooks would not share the list of 82 questions from the RJC poll, but he said the three questions as Cohen recalled them were not precisely the ones asked.

Instead, Brooks said, those being polled were asked how their support for Obama would be affected if they knew that a leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, had expressed support for Obama. 

Yousef, a political adviser to Hamas in Gaza, said in April, "We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the election," but after Obama delivered a pro-Israel speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group had changed its mind: "Hamas does not differentiate between the two presidential candidates, Obama and McCain, because their policies regarding the Arab-Israel conflict are the same and are hostile to us, therefore we do have no preference and are not wishing for either of them to win."

Brooks said the poll "absolutely did not" say Obama gave money to the PLO, but he said a question may have addressed that when Obama was on the board of the Woods Fund, the philanthropic group gave a grant to an Arab-American community organization in Chicago that Brooks characterized as anti-Israel.

After initially declaring before the AIPAC audience that Israel's capital must remained an undivided Jerusalem, Obama backed off that pronouncement, saying it's a matter to be decided by the Israelis and Palestinians in the final stages of a peace process. Brooks insisted his poll stated merely that Obama had flip flopped on the issue.

Obama supporter Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Florida, in a statement, said that "the fact that the Republican Jewish Coalition is targeting Jewish Americans with these disgraceful and deceitful tactics fits in perfectly with the dishonorable campaign that John McCain has chosen to run. Peddling lies and hateful distortions to scare Jewish voters is reprehensible and deeply disrespectful to Jewish Americans."

Said Brooks, "What's really interesting is the reaction from Jews who are supporting Obama. The questions we asked are all legitimate. Why don’t they like us asking these questions? Because they don't like the answers."

Brooks acknowledged that much of the leadership of the RJC has ties to the McCain campaign, but he said his organization does not coordinate in any way with the McCain campaign and anyone who "has a title" in the McCain campaign who is also active with his organization "has taken a leave of absence from the RJC so there's no question whatsoever of any integration or any overlap."

But even though Brooks stands by his poll and says it's no different from any other poll of the Jewish community, it has rubbed many voters the wrong way.

"I lived in New Orleans for nine or ten years," Cohen said, "and I would often get polls with salacious or inflammatory information. This one made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."

- jpt

September 16, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (132)

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Honestly, I do not blame the Party and the Campaign that are more ardent at using Fear and misinformation to drive home their points.

I heap the whole blame on the American Public who are more receptive to the lies and falsehood.

I blame American Public that allows the Politicians cashes in on their subseptibility to fear and emotion to cow them to vote for them while they go back to their Chambers to gloat at the gullibility of a whole Nation.

They gloated in time past and if we let them, they will keep gloating in time to come.

And as I always say, a Nation will always get the Leader it deserves.

Posted by: Dare Nigeria | Sep 17, 2008 7:28:23 AM

yeah, I don't know John these people are very strange- the obama's i mean. And you have to admit that the media has been giving them a pass on a lot of things. Obama's wife has completely gone into hiding. Which is not becoming of a future first lady. her absense was markedly noticed from the 9/11 memorial. Where is this woman?

Posted by: Emily Posted | Sep 17, 2008 7:08:53 AM

Warren Buffet said Obama could run a business and the country, but he's only the world's richest man, so what does he know?

Posted by: johnTX | Sep 17, 2008 6:58:48 AM

Michelle Obama MIA Watch Day 17

Posted by: Emily Posted | Sep 17, 2008 6:54:18 AM

More Karl Rove tactics! Anything to win. It is disgusting and despicable to do this type of thing to win an election. Hopefully the people contacted will have enough intelligence to make a decision on who to vote for by paying attention to the issues and the candidates positions on the issues. There are still people who do that.....aren’t there?

Posted by: Brian | Sep 17, 2008 6:52:55 AM

McCain has found the cause for the financial meltdown and the Wall Street Mess: Greed.

It took McCain 72 years to learn that.

He's a quick student, that McCain. I'm impressed.

Posted by: Willem van Oranje | Sep 17, 2008 6:49:43 AM

The Palindrones stil worry about candidates using teleprompters?

While their own VP-candidate has not given one - repeat that: NOT ONE - *unscripted* interview or press conference or accepted a question from a journalist or even a town hall attendee?

And while she has been reading the same stump speech - not even written by her - from a teleprompter the entire time?

Posted by: Polderboy | Sep 17, 2008 6:43:36 AM

@Cassandra Washington.

Yeah. I'm sure McCain pulled Fiorina from the campaign because she said she would not trust the Dem candidates running a big company.

When even Carla does not trust McCain running a company like HP, why should we trust him running the USA?

Posted by: Polderboy | Sep 17, 2008 6:34:14 AM

Debra

See you're repeating today's McCain talking points about the Barbra Streisand's fundraiser for Obama. Only problem is that it's just another example of McCain's "good for me but not for thee" hypocrisy since he held his own "Hollywood" fundraiser last month.

I guess after having told us twenty two times since January that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong," getting snarky about Barbra Streisand is about all he's got left.

Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Sep 17, 2008 6:33:16 AM

"Push polling" is the same crap that the Bushes used in the 2000 South Carolina Primary against John McCain. Among other things, they questioned his emotional stability.

If nothing else, you have to admire McCain's flexibility. He's willing to employ the same vile tactics that were used against him. This is "honor" and "integrity"?

Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Sep 17, 2008 6:22:31 AM

Now I know why Obama won't do town halls with McCain...he has to take that teleprompter on the road with him to rallys and town halls....probably due to the fuzzy thinking from jet setting to Streisand 9 million fundraiser
------------------------------------

Debra,

I keep asking myself why some People still find it difficult to stay on issues. With the Economy close to the 1929 Depression, with so many blue-chip Companies going belly-up, I can't imagine that someone that has the interest of this Country would still be talking of Teleprompter.

A Tool that is widely used by the two Campaigns.

Why not either discuss issues or criticize the Candidates constructively or do us a whole of good by keeping your peace instead of displaying your -----

Posted by: Dare Nigeria | Sep 17, 2008 6:16:28 AM

McCain's entire campaign is Meshugah.

Posted by: Gus | Sep 17, 2008 5:42:39 AM

Krist,

Obama has said he will come down hard on Senator McCain but he will not get in Mud.

Peddling false allegations is not being Strong.

Twisting facts to suit a parochial purpose is not being Strong.

Making your Veepee Candidate unaccessible to the Press for fear of her making misguided utterances is not being strong.

Asserting Strong Economic Fundamentals in the face of home foreclosures, massive unemployment, stock market crashes, Companies unsolvencies and bankruptcies, deficit balance of Trade and balance of payment problems, increased and increasing National Debt is not being strong.

We had a strong and Tough talking President in President G.W Bush. See where his strength got us!

What we need at this time is a Listen President, a President with Wisdom to decipher between good and bad advices, a President with foresight and a President that will realize more than ever before that it is better to build an America that will be well respected around the World than a America that is feared around the World.

That is the President will desire and that is the President we will Vote for.

Posted by: Dare Nigeria | Sep 17, 2008 5:40:40 AM

It's amazing how the McCain supporters are so quick to believe all the lies about Obama but will not acknowledge the truth about their own candidate. The intelligence level of this country is astounding. Every 4 years the Repulican party uses tricks and deception to get people to vote against their own best interests. These same people complain about the shape the country is in. And then they vote the same people back into office. Makes no sense to me.

Posted by: Marika | Sep 17, 2008 5:07:30 AM

Now I know why Obama won't do town halls with McCain...he has to take that teleprompter on the road with him to rallys and town halls....probably due to the fuzzy thinking from jet setting to Streisand 9 million fundraiser.

Posted by: Debra | Sep 17, 2008 3:39:06 AM

Obama is not strong taking John Mccain.Indded Obama is weak like Hillary said.It does nto take just a good man to win election it takes a strong man. Obama got to speak about these issues publicly to clear the air

Posted by: krist | Sep 17, 2008 3:33:15 AM

Why journalists not probing the Obama-Rezko associaton for 18 months, but Gov. Palin and the state trooper who was drinking/driving while on duty and tazored a 10 year old boy, and NOT FIRED an issue? This is the year objective journalism offically died.

Posted by: Debra | Sep 17, 2008 2:58:13 AM

Integrity Transparency? I think not.

I like McCain. He was funny on SNL. But I don't like his politics. Don't let ANYONE scare you. Vote on the issues. Vote on integrity. Look at the way the McCain camp is stalling the Troopergate investgation. Integrity? Transparency? I think not.

Look at the way McCain portrayed Obama as teaching Sex-Ed to kindergardeners. Integrity Transparency? I think not.

How about McCain voting for the war? If we didn't go into Iraq, a sovereign nation who didn't threaten us, Al-Qaeda wouldn't even be there. Mission accomplished my butt. Obama was against it from the start. Simply good judgement, and he went against the trend. A Maverick maybe?

How about a womans right to choose? You could be raped by your father and Palin thinks you should be legally forced to go through with the pregnancy. Is that freedom? I think not.

And finally, I don't want someone like me in the White House. I want someone way smarter than me. There is a 30% chance McCain won't make it through his first term. Then we'll be stuck with someone who has a BA in Journalism, thinks dinosaurs are 4000 years old, doesn't consider scientific evidence for mans roll in global warming, thinks Creationism (religion basically) should be taught next to Evolution, and sex-ed should consist of trying to convince kids not to have sex. I don't want that person at the reins of the most powerful country in the world. I haven't heard anything out of Palins mouth that would make me want to see her President. On the contrary, the prospect of her as my president scares the hell out of me and I'm frankly surprised that after a bit of examination it doesn't scare most of my Fellow Americans.

Please, if you're thinking of voting for McCain, re-examine the issues, go to Obama's website and poke around. See how the candidates are running their campaigns. I think you'll see that Obama/Biden are the right direction for our country.

Posted by: maax | Sep 17, 2008 2:31:18 AM

Emily Posted 12:52...I feel it too. I live in Burbank Ca area, and met Meghan McCain before she went on Larry King yesterday, and they gave me a McCain/Palin lapel sticker. I wore it to a busy grocery store and got stares like I never got before. It made me uncomfortable, like someone would follow me to my car to harm me. I will be putting up my McCain/Palin yard signs next week (they are out) and I'm hoping no one eggs my house.
McCAIN/PALIN ALL THE WAY!
P.S.- the more Obama attacks McCain the weaker he looks. This from a guy who was a new kind of politics. McCain is steady Eddy and if he performs like he did at the Faith forum...(at the debates) and prompter boy gets stuck on stammer...I'll be a happy voter.

Posted by: Debra | Sep 17, 2008 2:11:53 AM

What a disgusting way to scare people into voting one way or the other. I'm sure if it were Democrat Jews for Obama doing the same thing, the conservatives on the board would say the same thing and defend the tactics of the left...right guys?

Hypocrites. Is this how you want your administration to act?

Obama/Biden=integrity

Posted by: maax | Sep 17, 2008 1:59:43 AM

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