The headline of this story in today's Virginian-Pilot is "Big money arrives in Virginia politics" and mentions two Hollywood guys:
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is employing his
professional skills to bankroll his campaign. He has imported more than
$525,000 from two Hollywood executives unfamiliar to the Old Dominion
but well known at his old haunt, the Democratic National Committee.
Indeed, Haim Saban and Stephen Bing gave a combined $12 million to
build the DNC's new headquarters, stroking seven-figure checks in 2002
just months before a new federal law capped so-called soft money
donations at $25,000 per election cycle.
Saban of course we now all know about. He's an ardent Zionist, by his own description. As for Stephen Bing, a friend of Ron Burkle and a Hollywood producer, the Jerusalem Post says he's Jewish. And I have no idea what Bing's politics on the Middle East are. But I'd like to know. Jews play an outsized role in political giving, as the Virginia newspaper shows; and many Jews accept Alan Dershowitz's view that it's Jews "secular religion" to support Israel, thick or thin. I guess the press will only cover this when the lobby truly divides, when it's J Street versus the Likudnik lobby, and the press can argue there's diversity. (Thanks to Jeff Blankfort.)
