Marcus Bryant
10-27-2004, 08:14 PM
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/10/27/courting_of_jewish_vote_reaches_a_critical_phase/
Courting of Jewish vote reaches a critical phase
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff | October 27, 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- These days, it is rare to hear advisers to John F. Kerry praise President Bush over any foreign policy issue, especially in a hotly contested battleground just days before the election. But the subject of Israel brought out the bipartisan side of Kerry adviser Richard Holbrooke here on Sunday -- to the delight of his mostly Jewish audience.
''I'm not here to criticize President Bush," Holbrooke, a former United Nations ambassador, told hundreds of members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a major pro-Israel lobbying group, gathered for their annual summit. ''His support for Israel is, in my mind, unquestionable."
The crowd -- to Holbrooke's chagrin -- offered rousing applause. ''That was not," he said wryly, ''supposed to be an applause line."
The remark, and Holbrooke's response, offered a window into an intriguing question in this year's election: Will Jewish voters continue to turn out in droves for Democrats as they have traditionally, or shift toward Bush as his advisers insist they expect?
Courting of Jewish vote reaches a critical phase
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff | October 27, 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- These days, it is rare to hear advisers to John F. Kerry praise President Bush over any foreign policy issue, especially in a hotly contested battleground just days before the election. But the subject of Israel brought out the bipartisan side of Kerry adviser Richard Holbrooke here on Sunday -- to the delight of his mostly Jewish audience.
''I'm not here to criticize President Bush," Holbrooke, a former United Nations ambassador, told hundreds of members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a major pro-Israel lobbying group, gathered for their annual summit. ''His support for Israel is, in my mind, unquestionable."
The crowd -- to Holbrooke's chagrin -- offered rousing applause. ''That was not," he said wryly, ''supposed to be an applause line."
The remark, and Holbrooke's response, offered a window into an intriguing question in this year's election: Will Jewish voters continue to turn out in droves for Democrats as they have traditionally, or shift toward Bush as his advisers insist they expect?