A smart friend of mine who's been around offers the following theory of how Obama's victory (he's already president, folks) might transform American Jewish politics:
Jews are liberals. Most of them are. But a sizable percentage are
Israel-firsters (like that Kunst you quote). Better they should go
with the GOP and stay there, with only real Dems and liberals staying with the Dem party. Let the GOP have to kiss their asses!
Also, a weak Jewish vote for Obama will split the Jewish kids off from
their elders. They might understand, at last, that being an Israel activist, an Israel firster, is antithetical to the approach of the Democratic party and the rest of their generation. It will help them understand that being a liberal and lappingup AIPAC/Birthright propaganda is oxymoronic.
So here's my prayer. An Obama landslide carrying less than 60% of Jews!
Right now the Jewish leadership is monolithic because it can be. No one
takes it on. No one has mentioned AIPAC or the West Bank or Jerusalem
in any of the presidential debates. No debate, no change. The change
must come from the grassroots, and maybe from Jews first. That's the essence of this theory…
