WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s surge to the front of the GOP presidential pack has Jewish Republicans reckoning with a field that suddenly looks much different than it did just a few weeks ago.
According to the latest Gallup poll, 29 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents favor Perry, with 17 percent supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the previous front-runner.
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“I think it’s safe to say that everyone, Jews included, was surprised” to see Perry eclipse Romney, said Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former liaison to the Jewish community in George W. Bush’s White House.
But, he added, “I have not seen evidence that Republican Jews are
uncomfortable with Perry. Everyone will of course have their preferences
in the primaries, but GOP Jews are in ABO mode - they will support
‘Anyone But Obama’ come November of 2012.”
Republican Jews don’t have to be enamored with Perry in order to vote
for him, says Noam Neusner, a former Bush speechwriter who succeeded
Troy as the White House’s Jewish liaison.
“If he’s the nominee, Republican Jews will support him,” Neusner said.
“They may not be enthusiastic about him, but they’re not enthusiastic
about Romney, either.”
Mark Lezell, a lawyer, Republican fundraiser and Romney supporter from
Rockville, Md., called the Perry surge “unexpected,” but he still
believes that the “smart bet remains with Romney.”
“In the Jewish community right now, the money is overwhelmingly with
Romney,” Lezell said. “At this point I feel very good about Romney
getting the nomination.”
Republican candidates such as U.S. Reps. Ron Paul of Texas and Michele
Bachmann of Minnesota are still doing reasonably well in the polls - the
Gallup survey pegged their support at 13 percent and 10 percent,
respectively - and they have helped push the tenor of the campaign to
the right, observers say. But the race appears to be narrowing with
Perry’s entry.
“This race is between Romney and Perry and the other candidates are
filler for campaign reporters,” said one Jewish political strategist who
requested anonymity.
Both Perry and Romney are seen by Jewish Republicans as strongly
pro-Israel, as is the rest of the Republican field, with the notable
exception of Paul.
“You’ve got a bunch of pro-Israel people and then Ron Paul,” Troy said.
“They’re all out elbowing each other to say, ‘I’m the pro-Israel guy.' "
Jennifer Rubin, a conservative
Washington Post blogger,
approvingly noted that Perry mentioned Israel in his campaign’s kickoff
speech, criticizing President Obama’s policies toward the Jewish state.
Romney, for his part, has built a reputation as a candidate who eschews
the type of religious appeals that make Jewish voters of all political
stripes uncomfortable, several Jewish Republicans noted.
He “doesn’t appear to frighten people in the Jewish community,” Troy
noted, adding that Romney is “defined in the Jewish community, and in a
positive way.”
Romney‘s focus on the economy, jobs and national security appeals to
conservative Jews and potential swing voters, Jewish Republicans said.
The strategy “makes him potentially a more comforting alternative to a
swing voter than a candidate who spends more time talking about issues
that might be more confrontational to certain voters,” said Dan Schnur, a
California-based political strategist who served as the communications
director for Arizona Sen. John McCain during the 2000 GOP presidential
primaries.
Perry, on the other hand, has adopted a range of conservative social
stances, and puts his faith front and center. That type of rhetoric,
Schnur said, “might make it more difficult for [Perry] to attract the
Jewish voter - even someone who agrees with him on economic matters or
issues relating to Israel and the Middle East.”
Troy, however, suggested that Perry is getting a bad rap.
“I think Perry-phobia exists in many places, and the Jewish community is
one of those places,” Troy said. “A lot of people say to me, ‘I’m
afraid of this Perry guy,’ but I don’t think there’s any basis for it.”
Perry’s supporters point to his record as governor. Perry has more than a
decade of executive governing experience - more than even Romney, noted
Steve Papermaster, a Jewish Perry devotee from Texas.
“Up until today, until right now, he’s dealing with the current economy,
not just the economy of four, six or eight years ago,” said
Papermaster, who was appointed in 2001 by President Bush to the
President's Council of Advisors in Science and Technology. “Romney has
got experience as a governor, but it’s a bit dated to be honest.”
Perry also appeals to broad segments of the Republican electorate, Schnur said.
“Perry doesn’t duplicate either Romney or Bachmann’s support, he
overlaps with them both,” Schnur said. “He’s the most Tea Party
candidate the establishment can deal with and the most establishment
candidate the Tea Party can handle.”
Schnur said that in order for Perry to maintain his current edge, he
will have “to prove himself in debates and fundraising, and the
day-to-day challenges on the campaign” trail.
Perry has sparked controversy on the campaign trail, notably warning the
Federal Reserve’s chairman, Ben Bernanke, not to print more money
before the presidential elections because doing so would be “almost
treasonous” and treated “pretty ugly down in Texas.”
While hailing Perry’s pro-Israel bona fides,
The Washington Post’s
Rubin wrote that the Texas governor “has a way to go in demonstrating
gravitas and command of a range of critical policy issues. He’s going to
need to spruce up his rhetoric and elevate his tone.”
And David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter and outspoken internal
conservative movement critic, has written that Perry’s criticisms of
Social Security and Medicare could “reverse this election from a
referendum on President Obama’s record to a referendum on Rick Perry’s
intentions.”
Perry, however, has earned plaudits from one surprising corner of the
Jewish world: Kinky Friedman, a country singer, mystery writer and
self-proclaimed “Jewish cowboy” who lost to Perry in the 2006 Texas
gubernatorial election.
In an Aug. 24
Daily Beast
article titled “Kinky for Perry,” Friedman labeled Perry a “mensch” and
praised him as “the nuts-and-bolts kind of guy you want in” the White
House.
“So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes!” Friedman
wrote. “As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country,
I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes,
regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats.”
Friedman later reportedly clarified in a radio interview that his article was not meant as an endorsement of Perry.