Syndication
Republican Jewish Coalition
Underneath Support For Rudy, Questions
While Rudy may be taking a hit today for his turn coat support of the Bo-Sox, JTA’s Beth Young has a story that reviews his continued favored status among board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
According to Young, RJC’s lay leaders have contributed $58,750 to Giuliani, compared to $35,900 for McCain and $31,200 for Romney. (Everyone else is batting $0.)
At the RJC convention in DC, Rudy was definitely the crowd favorite, with a hawkish address that mentioned Ronald Reagan at every turn (Bush who??). But a number of attendees in the crowd told me Rudy was their favored candidate partially because they thought he had the best chance of winning, while they still had love for and/or interest in McCain, Romney and Thompson. Several told me they worried Rudy would never win over the Republican base, or that he would eventually be undone by his “bull in a china shop” persona.
It’s no suprise that the former New York City mayor is ahead with Jewish donors. The open question is if he is igniting enough passion in the GOP to actually win in the primaries and on Election Day.
At Least McCain Will Always Have the RJC
Floundering presidential contender John McCain is scheduled to speak at a breakfast of the Republican Jewish Coalition in New York a week from Friday.
Apparently, a $1,000 donation to the RJC buys a picture with the much-fallen front-runner…
As one Republican operative has snarkily observed to me: “Why would he waste his time raising $$$ for the RJC when he needs to raise money for himself?”
Among Friends: Joe Visits With Jewish Republicans
Senator Joseph Lieberman spoke today to leaders of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“Now,” Lieberman said, “I know there are some who are probably wondering — what is a nice Independent Democrat from Connecticut doing at a Republican event like this?”
Exactly who was wondering? The only person more upset than the RJC over Lieberman’s defeat in last summer’s Democratic primary was Dick Cheney.
Read on for a transcript of Lieberman’s speech.
