With just 6 days left J Street Pac, is still raising campaign funds for pro-Israel, pro-peace champions under attack by the neoconservative hard-right. If Democrats are going to stand up for real peace making, then we need show them that we have their backs... and their greenbacks.
The Republican Jewish Coalition and the so-called "Emergency Committee for Israel" -- fronted by such folks as Bill Kristol, Alan Dershowitz and Ed Koch -- are closing out Campaign 2010 with a barrage of attack ads and smear campaigns against JStreetPAC supported candidates.
There are so many ways to give money and support your favorite Democratic congressional candidates. You can give directly, or via Orange-Blue or other PACs, bundlers, etc.
But if Middle East peace is important to you, then I would suggest showing your support by giving to Democrats via the J Street PAC.
A push back to their push back is important. And of course, alas, money talks.
Please contribute $25 or what you can today to ensure our pro-Israel, pro-peace movement provides our friends with all they need to fight hard in this closing week.
There are a handful of races where J Street support has become an issue, and where if this movement is to have success over the long haul we have to prove that J Street and J Street PAC support is a net benefit politically. And of course it is important to target races that are close and where the Democrat has a chance of winning, but every extra little bit will help.
Based on those criteria, here are some suggestions:
The biggest of these is has been the Joe Sestak. Other senate races include Robin Carnahan and incumbent Senator Russ Feingold.
House races that J Street PAC has highlighted in a new emails are led by Maurice Hinchey in New York and Rush Holt in New Jersey.
Also Raul Grijalva in Arizona, Jan Schakowsky in Illinois, Dave Loebsack in Iowa, Russ Carnahan in Missouri and Anne Kuster in New Hampshire, and many many others to choose from.
Overall this midterm election is about domestic politics and the economy. But there are potential international policy ramifications, including arguably, the level of support and push the Obama administration will make for Israeli-Arab peace.
Take for example this AP article from a few days ago:
Israelis and Palestinians are closely watching next month's U.S. midterm race amid a sense — rarely discussed openly but very much on people's minds — that the result could affect the U.S.-led peace effort, and President Obama's ability to coax concessions from Israel.
Animating the discussion is the startling fact that the United States has failed, despite emphatic public appeals by Obama and weeks of increasingly frustrating diplomacy, to persuade Israel to extend the settlement-building slowdown that expired on Sept. 26.
That caused Palestinians to in effect suspend the U.S.-brokered peace talks just weeks after they began.
The Palestinians are now hoping that Obama has reacted mildly to Israel's rejection because of political considerations ahead of the Nov. 2 vote — and might be freer to apply pressure after the elections.
"We think that if President Obama emerges strong from this election, then this will enable him to work more on foreign policy," Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath told The Associated Press. "If he and his party lose in the elections, then this will limit his ability to pressure and actively engage in foreign policy. This is the problem."
Although Israeli officials avoid discussing the topic publicly for fear of alienating the Jewish state's most important ally, there is a foreboding sense in Israel that punishment is on the way — especially if Obama emerges unscathed.
Nahum Barnea, a respected and widely-read columnist, put it this way in Friday's Yediot Ahronot: "The problem is the disgust and rage that the Israeli refusal sparked in the administration — a rage that is being suppressed at the moment, but which will erupt in full force on November 3, after the elections to Congress. The Americans are seeking the logic behind the refusal ... and are finding nothing."
But if recent polls are borne out and Republicans take one or both houses of Congress, a chastened president might be too busy or weakened to pressure Jerusalem much, the thinking goes.
If Congress tilts Republican it could have a "positive impact" on Israeli concerns, one Netanyahu adviser told The AP — an allusion to avoiding pressure for concessions. With the Democrats weakened, Israel's friends in Congress — both Democrat and Republican — "would be able to have a stronger voice if the administration should embark on a policy that is less favorable to Israel," he added.
Ugh. Read the whole piece for ugh and more ugh.
So many ways to deconstruct the article.
But of immediate importance is to strongly and actively (money, phone bank, vote) those candidates where the Peace/Real Two State Solution/J-Street versus More Settlements/Endless Stalling/Neocon/Theocon/Repuglican/Likudnik dynamic is has actually been part of the U.S. 2010 midterm election campaign narrative and where the race is close:
You can find find your favorites among J-Street PAC endorsed candidates (and I gotta admit, like any other single issue group, there are many who are overall non-favorites in there too; as well as some who are not that super great on Israel-Arab Peace.
But in this final push, after the primaries and before election day, it is important to support those who have been endorsed by J Street PAC to choose to reject the right wing mongering and lies.