Ohio is the eye of the political storm here in the US, and we’re about to go to the final day of polling - the real poll where, when all the votes are tallied, it counts. And the winner goes to Washington, while the loser apologizes to his supporters and goes home to evaluate his failed message.
It’s 48-48%, dead even for Obama-Romney, if you believe the average of the polls around here. If you’ve followed me around Ohio, you’d be convinced the Republicans have an overwhelming advantage in enthusiasm and supportive turnout at the rallies and meetings - just back from a Speaker Boehner handshaking at the Victory Center down the road, and setting off to fight the crowds at the send-off Romney rally at the nearby airfield - air space has been shut down by the secret service for hours - making someone feel already Presidential.
We Israeli-americans, some of us even Ohioans, have had a unique hand in this election. Speaking out to our fellow voters, we’ve volunteered our time to weigh in on the issues that affect Israel, telling pro-Israel residents of Ohio and other swing states that we all care about Israel, and that that should make our choice easy.
Speaking from experience, from the front lines if you will - we American-Israelis have had the opportunity to use the media, the newspapers, social networking, you name it - to ‘talk back’ and spread the message that we think Mitt Romney will be better for Israel at this time, and that pro-Israel voters should not reelect Obama.
We’ve also researched and messaged other campaigns, Josh Mandel’s race for Senate in particular - aiming to unseat the most liberal senator in congress today, a JStreet darling, Sherrod Brown. We’ve had the opportunity to join forces with like minded Ohioans, leaders of communities, organizations, churches and synagogues, and just plain citizens - reaching tens of thousands of voters across the state in a message of shared values and concerns.
We’ve connected as wives and mothers of soldiers, as bible-loving people who believe in Israel’s right to defend herself and make independent decisions, as analysts who see Iran as a serious threat to the smaller and larger satan, as fiscal conservatives who believe in empowering business to promote growth; You name it, we connected.
And others took note. We took requests from other important races like Colorado and Florida, and spoke up with like-minded constituents speaking from Israel and working to get out the vote together.
We’ll keep this connection long past election day. This is just the beginning. The internet is a power that combines effective expression with strong connection, and we’ve witnessed a joining of forces that can continue to work to protect joint US-Israel interests in Washington. Our voices will be heard, and I invite you to follow and to join in.
Looking forward to enjoying a win with Romney at the helm, Josh Mandel and other new conservative senators in Washington, and a renewed belief in American values that promote unquestioning support and friendship for Israel.
Stay tuned...
The writer, a Mitt Romney supporter, works with Project Red Sea at Jaffe Strategies Israel.