Last summer you may recall that there was a wonderful floor demonstration at the Democratic Convention when the party sought to reinsert language in the platform calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel (and to reinsert a reference to God into the platform, too). Well, LA Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa was chairing the convention at the time, and on CNN he tells Jake Tapper that Obama himself wanted the language back in:
I got a call, said that the President was absolutely livid, the President wanted it back in immediately. My response to that was Great, but we got to whip it…. So I had to go up there and do what I did….
I banged the gavel for God and Jerusalem and I’m proud that I did.
Laura Rozen reported as much at the time, but it’s good to hear it from Villaraigosa. And let’s be clear: Obama did this not because he cared about the grassroots, which include many younger Jews, but because he cared about major Jewish organizations and donors, and because he was running to Romney’s right on the issue, or trying. And in 2008 at AIPAC he said Jerusalem must never be divided. He sure knows how to feint left and move right.