Last weekend, seven Democratic senators who haven't endorsed any presidential candidate sent out an unusual letter. They chastised those who were seeking to scare Jews away from Barack Obama by sending "hateful e-mails that use falsehood and innuendo" about his background and religion.
The message echoes a similar open letter to the Jewish community sent out by nine heads of major non-partisan Jewish organizations days earlier. "Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy," they wrote of wrongful accusations that Obama, a Christian, has hidden a Muslim upbringing that includes instruction at a jihadist madrassa.
There's little to suggest that these attacks have caused Obama political damage among Democratic Jews as he tries to wrest the nomination from Hillary Clinton, perhaps because of the defense offered by these letters and subsequent media reports in mainstream publications, such as The New York Times. But there's also little to suggest that Obama has picked up significant support from Jewish Democratic activists in the wake of his victory in Iowa and the momentum he has since gained nationally - where he has considerably narrowed the gap in polls with Clinton as the two head into the primaries, when the bulk of the American Jewish population will be voting.
At the same time, Obama has been unable to quell doubts about his commitment to Israel in certain quarters of the Jewish community, which some fear Republicans will push and then exploit should the Illinois senator prevail over Clinton.
Veteran Democratic political activist Steve Rabinowitz, who is a Clinton supporter involved with the Jewish community, acknowledges that some of the demographic that has been won over by Obama nationally - particularly young, progressive voters - would naturally include Jews.
"Just as he was a very exciting phenomenon in the rest of the country," he says, "as there are a lot of young and progressive Jews who are part of that community, that's true for them, too."
But Rabinowitz isn't concerned about that trend's threatening his candidate's hold on the wider Jewish community, of which a significant majority tends to vote Democratic.
"I have not seen a swing in Jewish votes or Jewish support for Obama," says another Jewish Democratic political operative with no candidate affiliation. But, he notes, "The states where the population is organized the most and matters the most really haven't voted yet."
And it is those states - New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts - with their large Jewish populations that will head to the polls (along with 18 smaller ones) February 5, the day that could decide the nomination.
THOUGH THERE are few empirical assessments of Jewish support for the presidential candidates, one national American Jewish Committee survey conducted in November showed Clinton enjoying 53 percent favorability ratings from Jews, while Obama had only 38% (or 70%-45% among Jewish Democrats). Those numbers were similar to those in an exit poll of Nevada voters at the caucus there last Saturday. According to the survey (of an admittedly small sample size), Jewish caucus-goers backed Clinton by 67% to Obama's 25%.
And when it comes to the Jewish establishment of campaign donors, fundraisers and political players, support for Clinton is estimated to be twice that for Obama (except in his home state of Illinois, where he has deep connections with the Jewish community). Since Obama's win in Iowa on January 3, the only major Jewish endorsement has come from Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nevada), and she went with Clinton.
Rabinowitz says the Jewish community's political involvement favored Clinton: "The Jewish community is a more informed community. It made up its mind earlier, and it enjoyed a unique … emotional bond with the Clintons that it didn't have with Obama because they didn't know him."
The unaffiliated operative echoes Rabinowitz. "Many activists were generally picking people well before" Obama picked up steam, and when it comes to Jewish issues, "She has a longer record on this stuff than Obama."
In explaining his choice to go with Clinton, major Jewish fundraiser Steve Grossman says, "I'm looking for someone who has a lifetime of leadership on issues that matter to the community, and Hillary has had a lifetime of leadership."
Yet Clinton's past has not always been so well-esteemed in the Jewish community. Speaking about the two candidates, one Obama campaigner points out that the New York senator was once known in the Jewish community for being photographed, while First Lady, embracing Suha Arafat.
Indeed, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency wrote a story earlier this month titled "Clinton's journey to Jewish favorite."
It recalled the opprobrium she received for her perceived support for the Palestinian cause in the 1990s, which since has been largely dispelled by her working with the Jewish community as a New York senator, and by taking strong positions, such as her opposing incitement against Jews in Arab text books and favoring a resolution to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terror group - for which she was pounced on by her Democratic presidential rivals.
"There is no daylight between Barack Obama's support for the State of Israel and other Democratic candidates. Full stop," stresses Alan Solomont, a major Jewish fundraiser who backs Obama despite his previous support for the Clintons.
It's not without frustration that Solomont says, "I don't question Hillary Clinton's support for the Jewish community … but clearly she's pandering to her constituents, and Barack Obama doesn't do things like that."
"Hillary Clinton has a long history of steadfast leadership on behalf of a strong US-Israel relationship, from her first trip to Israel in 1982, to her work in bringing an innovative Israeli preschool education program to Arkansas, to today," counters Nita Lowey, a Jewish Congresswoman who is also from New York. "Supporting a strong US-Israel relationship does not make one a panderer."
