Three Videos Every Jew Should Watch Before Voting In November

With the election only a mere few weeks away, Obama is looking to depend on a key voting bloc to help keep him in office. However, many of them may not be there to support him in the ballot box because they have serious concerns about his commentment to Israel. They have legitimate reasons to be nervous about allowing Obama to have a second term. These three videos below will explain why:

Another example of Jewish concern about Obama's commitment to Israel is found in this billboard that was put up recently:

On the other side of the world in the Middle East, Israelis are also concerned about Obama's commitment to their country. Jonathan Spyer, who is a Jewish research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center,  journalist, soldier and author of his first book, The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict, offers his opinion of how confident the citizens of Isreal feel about President Obama's promise that he won't allow Iran to acquire nukes. Here's what he had to say which I think also similarly reflects how many Jews here in America feel about Obama:

MJT: Obama repeatedly says he will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. Do you believe him? How many Israelis believe him? He’s letting Assad get away with murder, but he did go after Qaddafi and bin Laden. 

Jonathan Spyer: I don’t want to interfere in the internal American discussion, but your question is nicely phrased so I can comment without doing that. Confidence in President Obama is very low in Israel. That is because his performance so far seems to suggest that he has little understanding of the Hobbesian world of Middle Eastern politics and the aspects required in order to build firm alliances and proxies here. From his Cairo speech and the abandonment of Mubarak to the vacillating and paralysis on Syria, he just seems to be singing from a different and wholly unsuitable songbook. So I think very few Israelis have confidence that he will act effectively to prevent a nuclear Iran. No coherent red lines, including an outlining of the consequences of crossing them, means the Iranians will keep on moving ahead. Obama wants out of the Middle East, as he himself has made clear. He’ll do counter-terrorism from the air against small, extreme jihadi groups. In Libya, I think it was the Europeans and specifically the French who got that rolling, with the US following on, though of course inevitably doing most of the heavy lifting in the end. And frankly I think many Israelis also have the feeling, which we haven’t had for quite a few years, that the man in the White House right now isn’t a deep friend of our country, that he doesn’t understand or isn’t really interested in the story of Israel and the Jewish People, and consequently lacks a grasp of the deeper moorings which I think should underlie, and have in recent years underlain, the alliance between the US and Israel.

MJT: What is it specifically that President Obama does not understand? Surely he knows the Middle East is a much rougher neighborhood than Europe and North America. What else does he still need to grasp besides the obvious? What would you explain to him if you had his ear for a couple of minutes?

Jonathan Spyer: I would try to explain to him the dynamic of patron-client relationships in our neighborhood. I would explain to him that your clients don’t need to love you, don’t want you to bow to them, and don’t even really need to know that you respect them and empathize with them (though they will need you to at least go through the motions in this regard.) What they need to know is that if they get into trouble (and they will) you will back them and help them to your utmost. If they think you won’t or can’t do that, they won’t want to be your client. They will prefer to be the client of another patron (probably your enemy or rival) who will be willing to do this. As a result, the value of your strategic coin will rapidly decline. Right now, the net result of Obama’s losing Egypt/Tunisia/Yemen, and Iran/Russia/China’s non-losing of Syria, is that US credibility as a patron is low. Obama seems mainly dangerous to his friends, less so to his enemies, the killing of Bin-Laden notwithstanding. This is making allies nervous and enemies happy. This is not good. In particular, the most vulnerable allies (the Gulf monarchies) are very nervous indeed, and are seeking to organize themselves independently because of their impression that the US right now is not there. The trouble is that these countries are too weak for the job. As we see now in Syria, for example, they can’t deliver against Assad. So the end result of Obama’s conceptual error is that the Iran-led alliance, which remains by far the most potent and dangerous enemy in the region, is holding up well, while what used to look like a US-led regional alliance no longer really exists. This, in my view, derives directly from the American President’s failure to grasp the basic rules for behavior as a patron in the Hobbesian space of the Middle East. So if I had a few minutes that’s what I’d tell him. But I’d tell him this without a great deal of enthusiasm, because I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t get it.

Obama has had a long histoy of being flaky on Israel to the point that even life long liberal Jews are wondering about how committed Obama really is to Israel. While Obama enjoyed support from Jews in 2008, he will not get that same level of support or votes in 2012. If enough Jews abandon him at the polls on November 6th, he will not be reelected as President.

Vice President Joe Biden: Mitt Romney's Faith Should Not Be An Issue In 2012

Joe Biden gave a speech at the University of Pittsburgh and had a question and answer session afterwards. One of the questions that Vice President Biden recieved was a question about how religion and politics have shaped his life and came to a surprising defense of Mitt Romney's faith:

The last question was about how Biden's own faith plays a role in his public life and he noted he's Catholic and his family was proud when John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960 despite questions about his Catholic faith.

Biden said on Friday afternoon "it's embarrassing and we should be ashamed" that these types of questions are still coming up about Romney in 2012.

Earlier in the day, the Obama campaign put out a memo attacking Romney's plan to balance the federal budget by charging it "proposes spending cut that would devastate key middle class programs to pay for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy."

Despite their policy differences, Biden has been a consistent defender of Romney's faith being left out of the campaign prism. In a 2007 interview with CNN during his own presidential campaign, Biden was asked about Romney giving a speech about his religion in order to tamp down controversy.

"I thought it was a shame he had to make that speech," Biden said of Romney, before referring again to Kennedy's own efforts to deal with the issue in 1960.

"I thought that speech [Kennedy] gave to the Baptist ministers in Texas would end the need for any presidential candidate in the future ever [to] have to speak about or defend their religion. And I think it's a shame."

It is not surprising that Catholics frown on people who refuse to vote for a cadidate becaues of his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Early in American history, there were laws that were passed that excluded Catholics from political office because many people believed that Catholics were not Christians. While laws have not been passed to exclude Mormons from office, the rationale behind these anti-Catholic laws are still being used today because many people are saying that Christians shouldn't vote for a Mormon because Mormons aren't Christians. 

Joe Biden isn't the first Catholic to come to the defense of Mitt Romney's religion. During the 2008 Presidential election, Bill Donohue, President of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, had this to say about politicians who use their own religion to attract voters to their campaign or use another candidate's religion as a reason not to vote for that candidate:

"You know what, sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is."

Senator Rick Santorum, who is also a Catholic has stated that Mitt Romney's religion shouldn't be an issue in the 2012 election.

Catholics aren't the only people who have defended Mitt Romney's faith. Religious leaders from different faiths have objected to people who think Mitt Romney shouldn't be President because he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Many politicians, from many different religious backgrounds, have also raised their voices against people who think it is acceptable to vote or not vote for a candidate because of their religion. Many 2012 candidates have blasted Pastor Robert Jeffress for spewing religious bigotry across America by telling people they shouldn't vote for a candidate because Mitt belongs to theological cult and is not a Christian. Jim DeMint, a Protestant, has stated that he doesn't think Mitt's religion will be an issue in this election.

Jews have also come to Mitt Romney's defense. Senator Joe Lieberman has spoken out against religious bigotry in an address he gave at Brigham Young University. Michael Medved went on the offensive against Pastor Robert Jeffress for his comments about Mitt's faith.  

It is surprising yet refreshing to see someone like Joe Biden who disagrees with Mitt Romney on political and theological issues come to defend Mitt Romney's faith. I suspect that Vice President Biden, like so many other people who have come to defend Romney's religion, understand that it is a candidate's values and not his religion that voters should be concerned about. A candidate's positions on a wide range of issues have a bigger impact on the direction and success of American than their religion does.

Senator Joe Lieberman Speaks Out Against Religous Bigotry

Joe Lieberman gave an speech at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah in which he spoke about religious liberty in America. You can watch a short clip of his speech below:

Here's my favorite quote from Lieberman's speech:  

"Governor Romney must be judged not on the basis of his faith…but on his personal qualities, leadership experience and his ideas for America's future," Lieberman said. "My personal experience from 2000 gives me great confidence that the voter will again reject a (religious) test and show their strong character, their instinctive fairness and steadfast belief in the ideals of the Declaration and the Constitution. And when they do, another barrier may well be broken for another group in America, and the doors of opportunity will thereby open wider for every American."

In another part of his speech, Senator Lieberman explained that the imposing a religious test on a candidate is wrong because it is religious discrimination: 

"But … assuming the polls are correct that a minority of people continue to have unease about the Mormon faith, this will also be a Mormon moment of testing," he said. "Hopefully more people … think about how wrong it is to apply a religious test to public office in American and give Gov. Romney a chance.

"It sounds like I'm endorsing him," Lieberman added. "But I'm just endorsing his right to be judged on his personal qualities and experience and ideals, and not to be discriminated against based on his religion, which is unacceptable in this country."

He also told the students of Brigham Young University, who are mostly members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that people impose religious tests due to unfamiliarity with that religion and it is up to members of the LDS Church to speak out against religious bigotry and educate people about their faith:

"I would bet you, that whatever that percent of people who said (in public opinion polls) they'd be reluctant to vote for a Mormon candidate for president, I bet they have had little or no real contact with members of the LDS church," the Independent Democrat from Connecticut told the crowd of more than 5,000 at the Marriott Center. "When I hear expressions of bigotry, and you should do the same, don't hesitate to speak up in your own defense, you've got a lot to defend."

Senator Lieberman also explained that Mitt Romney will have to also educate the public about his faith:

"If Governor Romney is nominated, he's going to have to, he's done it a little bit, but he's going to have to educate people about the Mormon faith, and confront it directly and appeal to people's better nature, which is what Kennedy did in 1960," Lieberman said. "(Kennedy) appealed to people to be fair, which is what the country's supposed to be about."

Although Romney and other members of the Church must do more to help the public understand our religion, the American people should not let their unfamiliarity or their theological differences with a religion be the basis of supporting or opposing a candidate. A candidate should be judged on their character, leadership experience and his plans for America's future. 

Of course, a candidate's religion can be considered in selecting a President but it cannot be done only on the basis that candidate is a member of that religion or that he holds certain theological beliefs. One can judge a candidate on how his membership and theological beliefs influences his political, social and moral beliefs which is the more important factor in deciding who to support for President. 

Its worth pointing out that just because a candidate is a member of a certain religion or is a member of your very own faith doesn't mean he holds the same values and beliefs as you do. A perfect example is Mitt Romney and Harry Reid. Both men are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. However, they do not hold the same values and beliefs about important issues of our day. They do not agree on the size of government, abortion, taxes, war and other important issues. 

You will find this to be true in every religion. There are liberal evangelical Christians and conservative ones. There are liberal Jews and conservative Jews. There are liberal Buddhists and conservative Buddhists. There are liberal Catholics and conservative Catholics. 

As a result, that is why a candidate cannot be judged on his religion since people of the same faith do not hold the same views and values. That is why a candidate's political experience, character and values are the important factors in supporting a president.

Mitt Romney Recieves Strong Support From Jews

While some faiths have difficulty with the idea of voting for a Mormon, other religions don't. You might be surprised that the religion that Romney recieves the most support from are Jews: 

Should Mitt Romney win the Republican presidential nomination, it is unlikely his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be as big an issue in the general election as it has been in the Republican primary campaign.

That's the opinion of authors and researchers David E. Campbell and Robert D. Putnam, who wrote in the Wall Street Journal that a survey they have conducted about the feelings of Americans toward different religious groups suggests that "a Mormon politician like Mitt Romney may not face an impenetrable stained-glass ceiling after all."

Campbell, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, and Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, co-authored "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us." They explained in the Journal that although Latter-day Saints generally scored low on their survey, "Mormons aren't viewed negatively by everyone, and the religious group that gives them the highest rating of all may come as a surprise: Jews."

It is the writers' theory that "Jews' warmth toward Mormons stems from solidarity with another group that is small and subject to intolerance . . . Roughly 15 percent of both Jews and Mormons say that they hear derogatory comments 'often.'"

Jews, however, are unlikely to support a Romney candidacy because they tend to vote for Democrats every bit as much as Mormons tend to vote for Republicans, Campbell and Putnam say. But Catholics and mainline Protestants, two other groups who view Mormons warmly, are.

In fact, Mitt Romney enjoys strong support from Republican Jews: 

Romney’s financial backers are a who’s who of the Republican Jewish establishment, and his foreign policy advisers are culled from some of the pro-Israel community’s best and brightest.

Romney has cultivated Jewish Republicans since he launched his unsuccessful bid in 2007 for the '08 nod, said Fred Zeidman, a longtime backer.

“Every major Jewish Republican fundraiser has been with Mitt” since then, said Zeidman, a Houston lawyer who was a major backer of George W. Bush.

Romney’s relationship with leading Jewish givers, in turn, has brought more top-ranking GOP Jews into the fold, both as donors and advisers, Zeidman said.

“He's been able to pick and choose," he said. "People have been signing up.”

Yet the former Massachusetts governor continues to be dogged by his status as the moderate front-runner whom the conservative grass-roots longs to replace. Now  he is being shadowed in the polls by Cain, a former pizza parlor executive.

An invitation last month to a Romney fundraiser by NORPAC, one of the pre-eminent pro-Israel political action committees, underscored Romney’s precarious status.

“Governor Romney is well known to our community and is one of two front-runners for the Republican Nomination,” the invitation said. “While things are certainly subject to change in an election, Governor Romney is currently the betting site favorite to win the Republican nomination.”

Most galling for Jewish Republicans are the potshots that proxies for his rivals are taking at Romney’s Mormon faith. The latest salvo came over the weekend at the Value Voters Summit in Washington when Robert Jeffress, a pastor at a Dallas megachurch who supports Perry, the Texas governor, called Mormonism a cult.

“I can't believe as a Jew that anyone is going to be involved in someone's religion,” Mel Sembler, a shopping center magnate and leading Republican donor who is backing Romney, told JTA. “What's that got to do with running the biggest enterprise in the world?”

Sembler, a former ambassador to Australia and Italy who has served as the national finance chairman for the Republican National Committee, suggested that Romney was not out of the woods.

“Everything has an impact; some people don’t like the way he combs his hair,” Sembler said. “I would hope people would not be focused on what his religion is but what his capabilities are.”

Although Jews tend to vote Democrats, I believe this election will be different and that many of them will vote for Mitt Romney over President Obama in this election. Many Jews are unhappy with the way Obama has disrespected Israel and their leadership early in his presidency and tries to repair our nation's relationship with Israel in order to win back the Jewish vote and as time goes on, many Jews will like Mitt Romney's strong support for Israel:

Especially frustrating for Romney’s backers is that the Value Voters Summit kerfuffle overshadowed Romney’s first major foreign policy speech, on Friday at The Citadel military academy in South Carolina.

Israel policy was a significant part of the speech. Romney said he would increase defense assistance to Israel, raise the U.S. military profile near Iran and recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

He cast Obama's policies as contributing to Israel's isolation.

"I will bolster and repair our alliances," Romney said. "Our friends should never fear that we will not stand by them in an hour of need. I will reaffirm as a vital national interest Israel’s existence as a Jewish state."

The Obama and Netanyahu governments have smoothed relations in recent months, and Israeli officials credit the administration with tightening defense ties and backing Israel at the United Nations. Obama also refers to Israel as a Jewish state.

Sembler, who took Romney to Israel in 2007, said the former governor “gets it.” He recalled the overflight of the country, requisite for VIP guests, and a view of the security fence.

“I remember us flying around with the two generals,” Sembler recalled. “The generals kept apologizing for the fence. Governor Romney said, ‘Are the people on the other side of the fence shooting, because I see bullet marks.’ The generals said yes, so Governor Romney said, ‘Don’t apologize.' ”

Romney in his speech suggested that Israel might become further isolated if Obama remains in office.

"Will Iran be a fully activated nuclear weapons state, threatening its neighbors, dominating the world’s oil supply with a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz?" he asked. "In the hands of the ayatollahs, a nuclear Iran is nothing less than an existential threat to Israel. Iran’s suicidal fanatics could blackmail the world.

"By 2015, will Israel be even more isolated by a hostile international community? Will those who seek Israel’s destruction feel emboldened by American ambivalence? Will Israel have been forced to fight yet another war to protect its citizens and its right to exist?"

Romney said that as president he would "enhance our deterrent against the Iranian regime by ordering the regular presence of aircraft carrier task forces, one in the eastern Mediterranean and one in the Persian Gulf region. I will begin discussions with Israel to increase the level of our military assistance and coordination. And I will again reiterate that Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon is unacceptable."

He also said he would centralize U.S. Middle East policy to ensure "that the Arab Spring does not fade into a long winter."

The speech came a day after Romney published a list of his foreign policy advisers, including many who have been active in or are close to the pro-Israel community, such as Norm Coleman, the former U.S. senator from Minnesota who is now active with the Republican Jewish Coalition; Dan Senor, the co-author of a book on Israeli technological innovation who often works with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; and Dov Zakheim, a former top Pentagon official in various Republican administrations who also is active with the American Jewish Committee.

If you are Jewish and would like to support Romney, check out the Jews For Mitt Romney on Facebook!

Michael Medved Discusses Pastor Robert Jeffress' "Mormons Are A Cult" Comments

Micheal Medved, a well known Jewish radio talk show host, gives a well thought out explanation why Robert Jeffress' comment that Mormons are a cult is wrong. Listen to the YouTube clip below: