The National Jewish Democratic Council announced Thursday that it would be launching what it called an "unprecedented Jewish outreach effort" for next month’s elections in New Jersey and Virginia. The project will include field organizers, advertising, direct mail, literature drops, trainings, surrogate speaking, phone banking and canvassing.
Copies of the literature the group will be distributing (Virginia can be seen here, New Jersey here) indicate that they’ll be highlighting Virginia Democratic gubenatorial candidate Creigh Deeds’ positions on stem-cell research and women’s rights, and New Jersey Democratic Gov. John Corzine’s stances on stem cells, preventing gun violence and state pension funds divesting from Iran. But the centerpiece of both the New Jersey and Virginia literature is not exactly an issue most voters place a huge amount of importance on when voting for a statewide office — the candidates’ relationship with, and views on economic partnership with, Israel.
"Israel stands as a clear role model for Virginia as we bring our economy into the 21st century," reads a large quote below a photo of Deeds on the front of the Virginia piece, which also includes a section on how Deeds will work to build an economic partnership with Israel. That isn’t exactly a wedge issue in the race — Deeds’ Republican opponent, Robert McDonnell, has also spoken about the importance of economic partnership between Virginia and Israel as well, specifically on a trip to Israel two years ago. The NJDC takes a similar tack in the New Jersey race, featuring this Corzine quote: "We believe in the spirit and achievements of the modern state of Israel."
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Jewish News reports on the Republican Jewish Coalition’s efforts on behalf of Corzine’s opponent, Republican Chris Christie:
“For the last three weeks of this campaign we are going to be running full-page, full-color ads in all the Jewish newspapers across the state” in support of gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, Brooks told NJ Jewish News.
The RJC is expected to emphasize Corzine’s record and the state’s unemployment rates, high property taxes, and relatively low ratings among groups that measure a state’s “tax climate” for businesses….
In addition to the ad blitz, Brooks said, Republican Jewish volunteers “are going to do massive amounts of phone calls to Jewish households, and we are going to have multiple days of our members and grassroots activists going door-to-door to help get the issues out. The issues we are talking about are the issues the non-Jewish community is talking about: Who’s best to fix a broken state? New Jersey is broken.”
The full NJDC press release is after the jump:[[READMORE]]
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) announced today that it is launching an unprecedented Jewish outreach effort for the upcoming elections in New Jersey and Virginia. NJDC’s wide-ranging projects in both states will include field organizers, advertising, direct mail, literature drops, trainings, surrogate speaking, phone banking, and canvassing.
"Jewish voters will face important choices when going to the voting booth, and NJDC wants to make sure they have the facts and vote on November 3," said Linda Berg, NJDC’s Political Director. "The polling for this year’s elections in New Jersey and Virginia demonstrates that the races are very close. We estimate Jewish voters could make the difference in these elections."
To educate Jewish voters, NJDC’s outreach teams in New Jersey and Virginia will address important issues such as women’s equal rights, reproductive freedom, stem cell research, health care, and economic partnerships with Israel on the state level.
In New Jersey, NJDC’s outreach will be led by Project Director Jill LaZare and Andrew Rosen who will be organizing southern New Jersey. In Virginia, NJDC’s efforts will be lead by Project Director Alana Kuhn. Andrew Linhardt will be organizing Northern Virginia and Melissa Zinder will be organizing students at the University of Virginia.
"There are stark differences between the Republican and Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginia on issues that Jewish voters care deeply about. NJDC is excited to launch this unprecedented outreach effort to educate Jewish voters statewide," said Berg.
