Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Dela.) was in New York last week to make a presentation to the Council on Foreign Relations. Earlier that morning, he had breakfast with “a very prominent leader in the American Jewish community . . . an old, old friend of 31 years . . . just to catch up with him:”
And he’s talking about — he’ll probably become chairman of the committee, and he’s been out there helping the Democrats and — he said, “By the way, I’m voting for Bush.”
And I said — his name is not Harry — I said, “Harry, you disagree with him on almost every major thing.”
He said, “Yes, but he’s been good for Israel. He’s been flat good for Israel, and I’ve got to reward him for that, because this means so much to me — it means so much to me.”
Alan Dershowitz has emailed a “Message to the American Jewish Community,” in which Dershowitz says Jews who plan to vote for Bush are “wrong for two reasons:”
First, I know personally how strongly John Kerry feels about a safe and
secure Israel. . . He has a perfect pro-Israel voting record in the Senate.
Kerry’s “perfect pro-Israel voting record” is one of the urban myths of this election, endlessly repeated by those who haven’t bothered to check. It is not “perfect.” On the close votes, it is not even particularly good.
And even if it were, it would be irrelevant. Senate votes on Israel for a liberal senator from Massachusetts are easy. Standing up for Israel as president, in United Nations, where Israel regularly flunks the global test, is a lot more difficult. You can’t do it and still be France’s new best friend.
So the records of Bush and Kerry are not comparable. Bush’s record is one of action; Kerry’s is one of joining 80-90 other senators on non-controversial measures (and leaving a nuanced record on the others).
Dershowitz’s second reason why Jews are “wrong” to vote for Bush is a non-sequitur:
The second reason is that pro-Israel votes should not turn an American
presidential election into a referendum on Israel. Our goal must be to keep support for Israel a bipartisan issue . . . .
Huh? We should make support for Israel bipartisan, so don’t vote for Bush — vote for Kerry. As another law professor used to say, I get it all except the “therefore.”
The rest of Dershowitz’s email envisions a parade of horribles if the most pro-Israel president in history is re-elected: “a Christian state with Christian schools and a Christian Supreme court.” A country run by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed. An inauguration “more like a Christian prayer service than a national civic event.”
For some reason, none of this happened during the first four years of the Bush presidency, but Dershowitz is sure it will happen during the second.
Having neither the facts nor the law on his side, Dershowitz is banging the table. The real issue for Jewish voters, as Sen. Biden discovered, is the one Dershowitz wants to avoid.