Israel, the swing state
While the Israeli-Arab conflict is probably somewhere under the plight of the spotted owl as an issue important to the American voter, Israel might end up playing an important role in the elections anyway.
According to Shimon Greenspan, director of the nonpartisan Vote From Israel organization, which helps Americans living in Israel to register and cast their absentee ballots, approximately half of some 42,000 registered US voters living in Israel are voting in swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania
“If the election is close, as it was in the past two [presidential] elections, then the deciding votes could be coming from Israel,” he told The Jerusalem Post today. According to the organization, Israel has the third-largest group of American voters abroad, behind Canada and Britain.
Sensing that the Israel vote could be important, representatives of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are scouring the country try to woo voters, especially voters from Florida, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
Republicans Abroad in Israel has been passing out bumper stickers that carry McCain’s name rendered in Hebrew. Democrats Abroad set up booths on Israeli campuses to promote Obama, 47, to year-abroad students.
Kory Bardash, co-chairman of the Republicans Abroad in Israel, focuses on areas where there are lots of Americans, including the Tel Aviv suburb of Ra’anana and West Bank settlements Efrat and Maale Adumim. At a retirement home in Jerusalem, he helped register a 105-year-old Democrat, Miriam Pollack, who is from Delray Beach, Florida. Obama is “too much of a risk,” Bardash said she told him.
Democrats are signing up students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and promoting absentee ballots at house parties. A get-out-the-vote event closer to the election is planned at Mike’s Place, a bar overlooking Tel Aviv’s beach next to the U.S. Embassy, said Joanne Yaron, chairwoman of Israel’s Democrats Abroad.
Hey guys, it looks like we’re going to have our own elections to deal with soon. So chill out, and leave the voting to those Americans living in the US. We’re too busy dusting off our Center Party buttons.
Vote for Sisso
The November presidential elections in the US aren’t the only game in town. Next month will also see municipal and mayoral elections in a number of Israeli cities and towns.
Most of the attention has been on Jerusalem, where incumbent haredi Mayor Uri Lupolianski has been replaced on his party’s ticket by longtime MK Meir Porush. Just a couple weeks ago, former Shas leader Aryeh Deri was barred from competing against Porush because the timeout by law following his 1999 conviction of fraud and bribery hadn’t finished yet.
And of course, the great white hope, secular high tech candidate Nir Barkat is hoping to wrest the mayoralty out of the haredi hands. And on the side, Russian mega-rich businessman/shady character and Betar Jerusalem owner Arkady Gaydamak is also running on a ‘speak English only’ platform.
But lots of other cities and towns are also holding elections for mayors, with equally scintillating scenarios. Take the Haifa ‘burb of Kiryat Yam. The mayor there for the last 15 years has been one Shmuel Sisso. The veteran lawyer and former Israel consul general in New York been considered such a popular – or powerful – mayor that nobody had even bothered to register to run against him. That is, until just recently, Sisso’s younger cousin Alon, threw his hat in the ring.
According to a Ma’ariv report, Alon, who is running on a Likud ticket, was really only interested in gaining a seat on the local council, but national Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu advised the 38-year-old attorney to go for broke. Older cousin Shmuel, who is running under Kadima auspices, is not happy with the clan competition. Whatever the results in the Kiryat Yam mayoral elections, it will be all in the family.
Who are YOU Voting For?
My fellow Americans: the upcoming Presidential election is only weeks away. You owe it to yourself to make an informed decision, which is why I took the liberty of live-blogging the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama Friday night. Here’s a sample from the 4 AM local kick-off time:
4:10 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? I think I met them at the Mobile, Alabama Matza Ball once.
4:13 Lehrer to Obama: “Say it directly to him.” The moderator is apparently auditioning to be a matchmaker on the Upper West Side.
4:14 “I still believe our best days are ahead of us.” How do we get that kind of optimism here? “Dehr eez no hope een deh gah-verhn-mehnt….deh politicians all SAHK!“
4:16 Ech omrim “earmarked pork barrel spending”? The rabbinate is going to have something to say about this.
4:18 “$300 billion is really important.” THREE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS?!?! Where do I get THAT kind of aid? All together now….come on, Nefesh B’Nefesh….HOOK A BROTHA UP!!!
Read the whole thing here. And shana tovah (Happy New Year) to all!
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