In many ways, Howard Dean seems like the last candidate who would have political troubles with the Jewish community. His wife is Jewish, Dean agreed to raise his two children as Jews, he’s been to Israel as part of a trip financed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and his campaign co-chair is Steve Grossman, the former president of AIPAC.
So why and how has Dean managed to create divisions between his campaign and Jewish voters?
It’s probably a stretch to say Dean has a “problem” with Jews. Mel Gibson? He has a problem. Al Sharpton? He has a problem. Howard Dean? Well, let’s just say he’s got a lot of work to do.
Things first started going badly for Dean earlier his month before the first DNC debate in New Mexico. Dean was asked by an activist for his thoughts on violence in Israel. Dean said, “Nobody should have violence, ever. But they do [in Israel], and it’s not our place to take sides.” He added that in his vision for bringing peace, “enormous numbers of the settlements…are going to have to come out.”
Dean later clarified that he meant the U.S. shouldn’t “take sides” so we can remain credible negotiators with the Palestinians. Yet, as Dean’s Dem rivals took pleasure in pointing out, the United States has been taking Israel’s side for 55 years. They’re our closest and strongest ally in the Middle East, have been for generations, and we’ve nevertheless been able to serve as a broker for negotiations.
The negative responses were quick and voluminous. Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Dean is “either ignorant or naïve.” Joe Lieberman exacerbated the controversy in the Albuquerque debate. The Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations publicly criticized Dean’s comments. An Israeli newspaper said Jewish Dems would no longer be contributing to the Dean campaign. The only group to defend Dean’s comments was the Arab-American Institute, which when you think about it, probably didn’t help much.
Perhaps most importantly, three-dozen Democratic members of Congress, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, wrote Dean a letter, released to the media, reminding Dean of the importance for “unequivocal support” for Israel. The letter also accused Dean of “sending mixed messages” on U.S. policy in the region.
Dean quickly backpedaled, saying that he never meant that he would change U.S. policy if elected president.
“I’ve since learned that is a very sensitive word to use in certain communities, so perhaps I could have used a different euphemism,” he told CNN on Sept. 10.
The controversy slowly started to dissipate. Dean and Pelosi, for example, had a nice conversation a couple of days after the House letter was sent and Pelosi was reportedly satisfied. A Pelosi aide told reporters that she was “pleased that [Dean] has clarified his position.”
All’s well that ends well? Nope. Dean dug his hole a little deeper a couple of days later by calling leaders of Hamas “soldiers.”
Again, wrong choice of words. Members of Hamas are terrorists. For Dean to describe them as “soldiers in a war” implied a degree of legitimacy that U.S. officials always avoid.
Naturally, Dean’s rivals brought his Israel problem back the forefront. John Kerry, for example, said Dean’s remark “insults the memory of every innocent man, woman, and child killed by these suicidal murderers.” Kerry later said the Dean campaign is “imploding” the Israel issue.
So, is this going to end up hurting Dean in the long run? Maybe. The combination of the “take sides” controversy and the Hamas “soldiers” remark have damaged Dean’s relationship with the Jewish community. Here at The Carpetbagger Report, I’ve heard from about a half-dozen Jewish friends and readers — all Democrats, some Dem contributors — who will be actively opposed to the Dean campaign from here on out.
One reader wrote on Sept. 10, before the Hamas comment, “I know some lib Jews who were supporting the Gov. Now, not so much.”
One thing’s for sure — the Dean campaign is well aware of the problem. Dean has been sending Grossman to every Jewish group he can find to do damage control.
It may, however, be too late. Dean’s biggest problem may be simple arithmetic — Jewish voters have a lot of choices in a crowded Democratic presidential field. No matter how much spinning he does, Dean has angered a lot of voters who would have otherwise been inclined to support his campaign. With their disappointment in Dean in mind, many of them are now giving Kerry and Wesley Clark a serious look.