News Brief

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is stumping for Barack Obama among Philadelphia-area Jewish voters.

Clinton’s appearance Monday morning at a Jewish community center in northeast Philadelphia is part of an intensive Jewish outreach campaign by the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania.

Even as Obama has pulled ahead in the polls in what is still considered a swing state, both campaigns continued to court Jewish voters.

On Oct. 10, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) spoke to senior citizens at the Klein Branch of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia, vouching for her colleague from Illinois and his pro-Israel, pro-senior policies.

“I want to allay any fears that you have” about Obama, she said. “He has fought anti-Semitism” and “is for a strong and secure Israel.”

Schakowsky was accompanied by Gov. Ed Rendell and other local Jewish lawmakers, attesting to the importance being placed on the Jewish vote in Pennsylvania.

The McCain camp, meanwhile, on Oct. 10 brought U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) to the Philadelphia area. At three appearances — two synagogues and a senior center — he touted McCain’s support for Israel and defended his shift to the Republican ticket.

Lieberman said “there are a lot of differences” between McCain and President Bush, citing in particular McCain’s support for efforts to reduce global warming and his criticism of how the Iraq war was conducted.

But the former Democratic vice-presidential candidate faced challenging questions on Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, and on McCain’s policies on Social Security.