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September 24, 2020 |
Your weekly look at the latest news, analysis, and RJC activities around the country. |
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— Featured —
Georgia Senate Race Revisited – David Perdue
Back in July, I told you about the Senate race in Georgia that pits incumbent David Perdue, a major business leader before he became a Senator, and Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old filmmaker best known for losing a prior congressional race. I noted the contrast between Perdue's strong record of support for Israel and opposition to the Iran deal with Ossoff's support from J Street.
Since then, the race has become one of the most closely fought and heated of the contests that will determine the Senate's future. How closely fought? In the RealClearPolitics poll average, Perdue leads by a small amount, Perdue 45.5 percent to Ossoff 42.2 percent. How heated? Ossoff has indignantly accused Purdue of antisemitism.
In case you missed it: In late July, Democrats cried foul over an altered image in a campaign advertisement - an ad that David Perdue immediately disavowed once he became aware of it. Senator Perdue also cut ties with the vendor that produced the ad in question.
Fortunately for Perdue, he was able to draw on support from long-time friends in Georgia's Jewish community. They came forward to vouch for the sincerity of his outreach to our community and credit him for his leadership as a supporter of Israel, a critic of the Obama Iran deal, and an opponent of BDS.
One thing to remember: A majority of the total vote is required to win election to the Senate in Georgia. If neither candidate gets 50 percent +1 out of all votes cast, there will be a run-off in January. Naturally both candidates would prefer a November victory to January one. But if both remain stuck below 50 with so many close races this year, control of the Senate could come down to a January Georgia showdown in a race that did not appear to be competitive until well into this year.
The RJC PAC has endorsed David Perdue You can help him win by clicking here to support his campaign.
Please watch this space for more in-depth analysis on individual races in the critical 2020 elections. If you’d like to share your thoughts with me on any of these races, please email me at [email protected]. Click here to see previous "Notes from Norm."
One of the mailers RJC is sending to Jewish voters in battleground states.
RJC Conducts Massive Direct Mail Campaign in Six States
As part of the RJC’s 10-million-dollar effort to reelect President Donald Trump, the RJC is sending direct mail to Jewish voters in the critical battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan.
This project is making use of the most advanced, sophisticated, and data-driven approach in the history of Jewish Republican politics to persuade and turn out targeted Jewish voters in those states. The direct mail program is tailored and precisely timed to line up with each target state’s respective dates for vote-by-mail ballot drops and early voting deadlines, where applicable. This is in addition to our robust National Victory Team’s ongoing grassroots outreach, peer-to-peer text messaging operations, targeted digital ads, and cable and broadcast TV buys.
The initial direct mail pieces draw a sharp contrast between President Trump – the most pro-Israel President in history – and Joe Biden and the radical Left.
See the direct mail pieces here.
Israeli PM Netanyahu, Pres. Trump, Bahrain FM Abdullatif al-Zayani, and UAE FM Abdullah bin Zayed at the signing ceremony for the Abraham Accords.
More News from the Middle East
The White House says that as many as five more countries are considering normalizing relations with Israel after the UAE and Bahrain signed such deals, and three are in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said last the weekend that Kuwait was one of them.
Axios reports that the Trump Administration is seeking direct Israel-Lebanon negotiations on setting their maritime border in order to resolve the dispute between them over natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. These would be the first direct talks between the two countries in three decades.
Michael Doran, writing at Tablet Magazine, points to the great significance of the Abraham Accords that President Trump helped bring about:
The Abraham Accords are the most significant development in the Arab-Israeli conflict in the last 25 years. Not only have the Palestinians lost their veto over normalization between Israel and other Arab states, but the entire “Resistance Alliance,” led by Iran, has revealed itself as incapable of placing obstacles in the way of Israel’s integration into the Arab state system. True, the UAE and Bahrain are small powers, but behind them looms Saudi Arabia, which is by far the most influential Arab state. Without Riyadh’s tacit support, the celebration on the White House lawn would never have materialized. If Trump wins the election in November, there is a good chance that Riyadh will normalize relations with Israel—to say nothing of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Morocco, and Sudan, who are also waiting in the wings.
…It is equally notable that Trump’s masterstroke came by breaking the hold of the Washington foreign policy establishment on the Middle East peacemaking business. In denigrating his accomplishment, the leading lights of American foreign policy have also conveniently erased from memory their unblemished record of outrageously bad predictions.
Read the whole thing.
Saudi Arabia is pushing to change public perceptions about Jews, changing school textbooks and prohibiting the disparagement of Jews in mosques. The Times of Israel has the story.
Aaron David Miller, who handled Middle East policy for President Bill Clinton and, briefly, for President George W. Bush, admitted this week that he – and almost all of the foreign policy establishment in Washington – were wrong about how to bring about peace in the Middle East. He writes:
[The signing of the Abraham Accords] confounded the predictions of many peace process veterans — me included. I always believed normalized relations between Israel and neighboring Arab states would necessarily follow a resolution of the Israel-Palestinian dispute. So, recent events started me thinking about what else we may have missed… Three long-held assumptions that have guided US policy haven’t borne out, and in the process have upended American thinking about the centrality of the Israel-Palestinian dispute long considered to be the core of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions on Iran this week.
Trump Administration Enacts Iran Sanctions “Snap Back”
Adam Kredo reports:
All international sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the Obama administration’s landmark nuclear deal with the country have come back into effect as of [September 19], removing the last remaining vestiges of the agreement that were still in place.
The renewal of these sanctions comes after months of last-ditch diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration to ensure a United Nations ban on Iran’s purchase of advanced weapons was not lifted. This effort was unsuccessful after it failed to garner backing from traditional European allies on the UN’s Security Council. Following that bid, the United States exercised its right under the original 2015 accord to reimpose a litany of sanctions on Tehran that have been waived since the accord was signed and endorsed by the UN. With the reimposition of these sanctions, the nuclear deal that President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 is effectively voided.
Axios has a report on the steps taken by President Trump, the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the Commerce Department to implement this snapback of sanctions.
Read the President’s statement on the sanctions here.
The RJC is committed to reelecting President Donald Trump, keeping the Senate, and winning back the House. We encourage our members to participate in our outreach phonebank project to help Republicans win in November. It's easy, and you can do it from home! Here's how YOU can help:
- Sign up to call Jewish voters from home by clicking HERE.
- Fill out all of the fields.
- Listen to the instructions and write down your username and password when a member of the RJC Victory Team contacts you.
- Make as many phone calls as you can. Everyone you speak to is a potential vote for President Trump and the GOP!
Sign up now and you could be the next RJC Volunteer of the Week!
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The RJC PAC has endorsed a terrific slate of House and Senate candidates, and we need them to continue their work on Capitol Hill! CLICK HERE to donate through the RJC PAC portal and show your support for our great candidates!
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And don't forget your RJC/Trump kippah!
Our extremely popular red Trump kippah is now for sale for just $18. This includes shipping and handling. Supplies are limited.
BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE.
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Murkowski, Romney, open to confirming SCOTUS nominee
According to news reports, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has changed her position and now says she would not rule out voting on a nominee to the Supreme Court vacancy left by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) has also said he is open to confirming a nominee before the election. Senate Republicans are now in a good position to confirm President Trump’s nominee for the seat. The President is expected to announce his nominee on Saturday.
— Events —
RJC Victory Team National Days of Action
This week, we awarded a 2020 Volunteer Raffle Prize (an iPad Mini) to Martin Sklar from Mansfield, MA. Great work, Martin! The next drawing will be on Tuesday, October 6.
Reminder: For every 1,000 calls made to targeted Jewish voters in key battleground states, volunteers will receive 1 raffle “ticket” to enter the prize drawing, and will receive a $100 AmEx gift card.
Please join us for the upcoming RJC Victory Team Virtual Days of Action. There will be a half day of calling on Sunday, September 27 and then regular Virtual Days of Action on Tuesday, September 29 and Thursday, October 1. We are calling potential Jewish voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia, key battleground states of the 2020 election cycle. Click here to sign up and help!
While RJC offices are closed and our staff are teleworking, you can reach us by email or by phone (please leave a voicemail message and your call will be returned). Contact information for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news, to volunteer for our 2020 outreach efforts, to see details of upcoming events, and to donate to the RJC.
If you like the work we’re doing, consider joining us on Facebook and Twitter, and renew or upgrade your RJC membership. Ensure that your voice is heard in our party and our community!
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Republican Jewish Coalition | 50 F Street, N.W., Suite 100 | Washington, DC 20001
202.638.6688 | [email protected]
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