At CNN, David Frum says that Sarah Palin made a big mistake by booking her trip to Israel through a Christian tour operator rather than through the Republican Jewish Coalition, the Jewish entity of the party that brought G.W. Bush to Israel before he became president. Note the frank description of the RJC’s access to pools of money. Similar to Dan Ephron’s statement at the Daily Beast that Palin is cultivating “wealthy Jews.” This is like the paradox that Walt and Mearsheimer confronted. The lobby brags about its strength all the time, so as to intimidate politicians. But then a non-Jew brings it up and is promptly accused of invoking anti-semitic stereotypes about Jews and money. Frum brags:
If you were seeking the nomination, the RJC is one of the groups whose support you would certainly want.
Joining an RJC Israel tour is a well-established ritual in gaining the support of the RJC’s board and the group’s 40,000 activist members.
The RJC’s board of directors includes four people who have served as national finance chairs for the Republican Party — the party’s “fundraiser-in-chief.” Eight board members have run major donor groups within the GOP and 18 members served as state finance chairs for George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004. It also includes some less distinguished figures — me, for example.
The RJC local chapters are active in almost every state. Jewish Republican may seem a minority of a minority, but the local chapters contain disproportionate numbers of local Republican activists — the kind of people who make a difference in a state primary.
The RJC played an especially important role in 2008, the election in which Palin burst onto the national stage — a very unpromising year for the GOP. Barack Obama out-raised John McCain in an election in which many of the party’s usual donors stayed on the sidelines. Yet RJC members continued to fundraise for McCain-Palin, like the last guy to hold the pass, outnumbered and outgunned.
Most Republican presidential aspirants consider the RJC a group whose support is very much worth having. Which is why virtually every major and long-shot Republican candidate except Palin has addressed an RJC meeting: Romney often, Newt Gingrich often, Tim Pawlenty often. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is stopping by the group’s April Las Vegas meeting … just in case.
