Brooklyn is very conservative when it comes to Israel/Palestine. Last year in one Brooklyn congressional district, Republican challenger Michael Grimm unseated Michael McMahon with tons of pro-Israel messaging. And lo, Congressman Grimm was last seen in Israel, cozying up to Shimon Peres. Not surprisingly, Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul who has given millions to rightwing opponents of the two-state solution, was there, too. And both Adelson and Grimm came out talking about freeing Jonathan Pollard.
Well now Republican Bob Turner is running in the neighboring district, for the former Anthony Weiner seat, and he’s turning up the heat on Democratic candidate David Weprin, who is an Orthodox Jew. Politico’s Alex Isenstadt writes that Israel is again at the heart of the battle, with Islamophobic toppings. Note that the Democrat seems to be distancing himself from Obama (thanks to Dean Obeidallah):
Last week, Turner launched a searing TV ad — complete with images of the burning World Trade Center — hammering Obama and Weprin for supporting the construction of the so-called Ground Zero mosque. “Some … want to commemorate the tragedy by building a mosque on Ground Zero.”…
Still, there are signs Weprin is uncomfortable with the idea of Obama being hung around his neck. At a news conference earlier this month, Weprin declined to answer whether he would support Obama for reelection. “I’m running myself right now,” he said. “On Sept. 14, I’ll be happy to address the president’s election.” The next day, Weprin released a statement clarifying that he would support Obama in 2012.
The Turner effort hinges in part on exploiting Obama’s strained relations with some of the area’s Jewish community, which views the president as insufficiently supportive of Israel. Last month, Turner held an endorsement news conference with former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who encouraged voters to back Turner with an eye toward punishing Obama over his position that the Israelis and Palestinians should negotiate a return to the 1967 borders.
In airing the mosque ad, Turner is seeking to reopen the wound and revive Jewish voters’ lingering suspicions of the president, said Doug Forand, a New York City-based consultant who formerly served as a top strategist for Democrats in the state Senate.
“The mosque issue is very resonant, and it’s a way for him to play up the challenges Obama is facing with the Orthodox community,” Forand said. “If he can drive a wedge between Weprin and his supporters, he’s going to do it.”
