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October 29, 2020 |
Your weekly look at the latest news, analysis, and RJC activities around the country. |
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— Featured —
The Outlook and the Stakes
Over the last few months, I've used this space to discuss the key races in - and the stakes of - the battle for the Senate. With just five days to go before Election Day, the battle has never been more intense, and the stakes have never been higher.
Recently, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell assessed the state of play and concluded that maintaining the Republican majority is a 50/50 proposition. The current GOP majority is 53 seats, and we expect to gain one in Alabama, where Tommy Tuberville leads incumbent Doug Jones. Less encouragingly, GOP incumbents in Arizona, Colorado, and Maine are behind in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, and Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Joni Ernst trail narrowly in North Carolina and Iowa as well.
On Election Night, we'll also be closely tracking races that are close, but with an apparent edge to the party currently holding the seat - for the Democrats, that’s Gary Peters in Michigan and for the GOP, it’s Steve Daines in Montana, David Perdue in Georgia, and Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, John Cornyn in Texas, and Rep. Roger Marshall seeking the open seat in Kansas will only be in danger if Democrats significantly outperform expectations.
Remember that the battle for the Senate could go into 'overtime,' with control of the chamber determined by the outcome of January run-off elections that are expected in two Georgia races: Perdue's showdown with Jon Ossoff and the special election to fill the remaining portion of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson's term.
When I say the stakes in the fight for the Senate could not be higher, I mean the stakes for our country, for our party, and for the Jewish people. Especially if Democrats are able to win the presidency and hold the House, a GOP Senate could be the only brake on the ambitions of an increasingly radical Left. And an all-Democrat federal government is a clear threat to the hard-won gains of the last four years: the Iran maximum pressure policy, the peace treaties between Israel and Arab neighbors, the Taylor Force Act's restrictions on aid to terrorist murderers, and the relocation of the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
That's why I'm so proud of the extraordinary effort RJC and its members have made to win this fight. GOP Senators know that the Republican Jewish Coalition punches far above its weight in terms of financial and grassroots impact - and they are grateful. We need to maintain that all-out push for just a few more days and pray that the result we've been working toward is achieved next Tuesday.
Make Your Voice Heard – Make Your Vote Count – Cast Your Ballot! In person or by mail, early or on Nov. 3, whether you’re in New York or Montana, be sure to vote!
To make last-minute donations to our great GOP candidates, visit the RJC PAC here. All donations must be made by 11:59PM on Tuesday, November 3.
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."
Trump campaign strategic advisor Boris Epshteyn joined RJC members in Florida for a debate watch party last week.
RJC Helps Get Out the Vote
Omri Nahmias reports at the Jerusalem Post about Jewish “get out the vote” efforts in the battleground state of Ohio. He writes:
With 18 votes in the electoral college, Ohio has been long considered a “must-win state” on the way to the White House. The key battleground state has predicted the identity of the winner in the presidential election in every cycle since 1964. In 2016, President Donald Trump carried the state by eight percentage points.
According to the FiveThirtyEight polling average, Trump is currently leading [Joe] Biden in the Buckeye State, giving him a chance of 58 out 100 to win there again.
…Barbara Amper is the Cleveland chapter chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “I think Ohio will comfortably vote for Trump,” she said.
Mobilizing voters at a time of a pandemic is not easy, Amper said. “A lot of people are just staying away. Some would help from home; people don’t want to go out. They’re being very, very careful.”
With COVID-19 preventing in-person events, Amper said that most of the get-out-the-vote efforts are made by phone. “I am basically on the phone,” she said. “Sometimes I was checking to make sure that they got their absentee ballot. Now it’s getting closer to the election, so we’re asking for poll observers. And so it changes weekly.”
Asked about the breakdown of the Jewish vote in Ohio, she said that while recent polls have shown Biden leads Trump in the community in about 70-30 margin, “there is such a thing as the silent Trumper, as I call them, people who won’t answer the phone, they won’t take a survey and they won’t tell anybody who they’re voting for. So they’re not in any of the polls. You’re not going to find them anyplace.”
Amper added that there is a wedge within the Jewish community. “[Jewish Democrats] just can’t stand it, that anybody would vote for Trump. Actions speak louder than words. He’s been such a good friend to Israel. I just do not understand how more Jews cannot back him. But I think for some reason, they’re married to the Democrat Party. I wish I knew why; I just don’t.”
For more about what the RJC is doing to get out the vote, see our newsletter from Monday here.
Join our efforts by making calls in these last crucial days before the polls close! Sign up here.
President Trump’s Record of Success
Pay careful attention to what will happen to the US Senate if Republicans lose the majority, as Politico reports:
If Democrats win control of the Senate in November, the new committee chairs will include a senator tried on federal corruption charges, two octogenarians, a democratic socialist and a former tech industry executive, among others.
… Potential committee chairs include 79-year-old Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at Budget; 80-year-old Patrick Leahy (D-VT) at Appropriations; 87-year-old Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) at Judiciary; Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Mark Warner (D-VA) at Intelligence; and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) at Foreign Relations.
Other potential future Democrat Senate chairmen include:
- Maria Cantwell (D-WA) - Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
- Patty Murray (D-WA) - Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
- Gary Peters (D-MI) - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (assuming he wins his competitive race for reelection next week)
Axios interviewed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and she had a lot to say about how the “progressive” Left would influence a Joe Biden administration.
Rep. Ilhan Omar told "Axios on HBO" that given the way progressives have shaped Joe Biden's policy platform, she and other members of "The Squad" expect a liberal turn from him if he's elected.
… "We will have a cohort of progressives that are very clear about their objectives for wanting the implementation of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal and raising the minimum wage and not allowing for fracking," Omar said.
… If Biden is elected, progressives will be pushing him on personnel in addition to policy. Omar said she would not be OK with Biden appointing any Republicans to his Cabinet — something he is reportedly considering.
Only you can prevent this reality from unfolding: cast your vote for President Trump and all the GOP candidates on the ballot!
Sudanese leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, US President Donald Trump, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
President Trump’s Latest Wins in the Middle East
At the end of last week, President Donald Trump announced that another Muslim country is normalizing relations with Israel, in what the Wall Street Journal editors call “the Arab-Israeli peace cascade.” The Hill reported:
President Trump on Friday announced an opening of relations between Sudan and Israel, building upon a breakthrough of diplomatic ties between the Jewish state and Gulf Arab nations that have traditionally shunned Israel over its conflict with the Palestinians.
The RJC had this to say about this latest positive development in the region:
President Trump and his team have quietly produced innovative solutions to some of the most intractable foreign policy problems in the world. Today, Muslim countries are entering into diplomatic, trade, and other relations with the State of Israel. These amazing changes will bring greater peace, stability, security, and opportunity to millions of people. And the credit for bringing those historic achievements to fruition goes to President Donald Trump.
Today the Trump administration announced a change in US policy regarding how Americans born in Jerusalem can list their place of birth on their US passport. In the past, US citizens born in Jerusalem could only list the city as their place of birth. Now they can list “Jerusalem, Israel” as their place of birth.
The RJC responded to this meaningful change:
This change is consistent with President Trump’s Israel policies, including formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. It is also in keeping with the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that the President is empowered to decide on the recognition of foreign nations, and therefore on what is written in US passports.
American Jews as well as American Christians and Muslims who were born in Jerusalem can now carry passports that demonstrate the immutable connection between Jerusalem and Israel. President Trump is once again coming through for American Jews. This is just one more reason the American Jewish community should be casting their votes for President Donald J. Trump.
JNS reports on another, very significant move by the Trump Administration regarding Israel. The US and Israel signed new bilateral agreements, and one important clause reversed years of Carter and Obama settlement policies:
Less than one week before Americans will decide whether to entrust President Donald Trump with another four years in office, the current administration completed its reversal of a legacy US policy prejudiced against Israeli settlements.
The United States and Israel signed new bilateral agreements on Wednesday that further enhance the cooperation between the close allies in the areas of science, industrial research, and agricultural.
Yet perhaps more noteworthy is that legacy “geographic restrictions” have now been removed from existing agreements.
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman noted at the ceremony that the two nations were to “sign a revision that will eliminate the geographic restriction that prohibits the funding of American and Israeli joint research and development and cooperation over the Green Line.”
International law expert Prof. Eugene Kontorovich explains:
“This is really quite momentous,” he said on Tuesday. “It is the first time the US has adopted a policy that explicitly and clearly authorizes the use of funds across the green line… It’s a very strong recognition that settlements are not illegal. They announced that, but now they’re putting meat on the bones.”
… Kontorovich also said the new agreements “send an important message that science has no borders and you can’t politicize science. The idea that scientific research shouldn’t be funded based on where it takes place is a problematic one; it holds progress hostage to politics.”
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 help us finish strong!
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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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— Events —
RJC Victory Team National Days of Action
We are be making calls EVERY DAY (except Saturday) through Election Day! It's not too late to join in for the last big push to get out the vote in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia, key battleground states of the 2020 election cycle. We’ve made over 650,000 grassroots Jewish voter contacts. More to come!
Click here to sign up and help!
And don't miss the our final pre-election virtual event:
"Closing Arguments: An Important Conversation – What’s at Stake in 2020 for the Jewish Community" TONIGHT at 7:30PM Eastern Time
Click here to register.
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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