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Have Jewish fears become mainstream during the 2024 US elections? – idea

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Have Jewish fears become mainstream during the 2024 US elections? – idea

“Turn your anxiety into action.”

Although not a translation of a Yiddish phrase, the phrase was the message in an email sent Monday to activists by Jewish Women for Kamala, an affinity group organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

It’s a mantra on both sides of the aisle in the closing days of the 2024 presidential election. Democrats are particularly stressed as they remember Hillary Clinton’s seemingly comfortable lead over Donald Trump evaporating on election night, with most polls pointing to a statistical deadlock. Republicans feel anxious, too, or at least their candidates want them to. As Trump told supporters at his rallies, “If we lose this election, this country is doomed.”

When it comes to sources of specifically Jewish concern, the shutting down of ads by Jewish groups on both sides offers strong indications. Beyond the concerns that galvanize general voters (housing, inflation, immigration, reproductive rights, affordable healthcare), these ads (more likely to appear in your social media feeds rather than running in major markets) focus on specific Jewish issues: anti-Semitism, defending Israel, and especially Democrats among fears that Trump’s second term would pose a threat to American micro-democratic norms in which Jews have historically thrived.

In a 30-second video that began airing Monday, the JDCA begins with a narrator warning: “This is a difficult time for many Jewish Americans, a time filled with uncertainty. Our election will affect our families and our democracy for years to come.”

Is it the enemy within you?

Cut to Trump’s reference to the “enemy within,” which he uses to describe Democrats like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi and others who oppose or investigate him (and one Fox News interviewer even described it as “a pretty ominous phrase”). . use about other Americans”).

The HARRIS campaign needs to shore up Jewish support in swing states or it risks losing the election. Similarly, one of the paths to Trump’s victory will be to cut off Jewish support for Democrats in these critical states. (Source: Eduardo Munoz/Nathan Howard/Reuters)

It’s the kind of language that has led to a debate — recently spearheaded by Trump veterans — about whether Trump’s populism and ideas about presidential power amount to fascism, even appearing in the campaign’s official ads on Friday. It features a Holocaust survivor refuting the idea that Trump is a fascist.

In the JDCA ad, the argument is fueled by the image of rolling military vehicles and Trump saying “this should have been handled very easily by the military”; it’s part of a longer, rambling quote in which Trump warns about “very bad people…some of them are sick.” people, radical left lunatics.”

The ad then pivots to reference Trump’s remarks at a GOP-led event on anti-Semitism on Sept. 19, when he said that if the election had not gone his way, “the Jewish people would have had a big part in that loss.”

“Donald Trump is openly scapegoating Jews,” the narrator says. “This is antisemitism and is unacceptable,” Harris is seen saying.

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The ad then shifts from ominous to optimistic; Footage is shown of Harris lighting a Hanukkah menorah and condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, describing her as “a champion, partner, and defender of our community, freedom, and values.” .”

https://twitter.com/USJewishDems/status/1848453343267733754

A succinct ad that emphasizes that authoritarianism is never good for Jews, that Trump is engaged in antisemitism, and that Harris is the antidote. There is little mention of Israel, which the JDCA’s own polling shows is not the top concern of Jewish voters in swing states. This distinction belongs to the “future of democracy” with 44 percent, followed by abortion with 36 percent and inflation and economy with 24 percent. Israel appears as the fourth biggest source of concern with 16%. (The same poll also showed Harris collecting 71% of the Jewish vote in seven swing states likely to decide the election.)

Harris, meanwhile, doesn’t even appear in the Israel Democratic Majority’s closing ad. His video is three minutes long and is able to lay out the case against Trump in more detail. She describes him as “a man with a long history of supporting anti-Semites” and name-checks marchers in Charlottesville, rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, and anti-Semites seen in the crowd at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

It also links Trump to some of his hottest surrogates, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson; both promote conspiracy theories in which Jews regularly play a demonic role.

Unlike the JDCA ad, and in keeping with its mission, the DMFI ad directly addresses Israel, arguably the only Jewish issue on which Trump and the GOP have an advantage among Jewish voters. The ad claims that Trump and vice president JD Vance are isolationists who will “blow up NATO, abandon Ukraine” as well as Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

“Should we really believe, as Jews, that this alliance with Israel has a special place in Trump’s heart?” the narrator asks. “What if the Israelis abandon Bibi and elect someone more centrist? But what if the Saudis and Qataris, who literally fund the Trump family, want something that goes against Israel’s interests? Will Trump side with Israel then?”

There is something more than a little defensive about the DFMI ad; Instead of making a positive case for Harris, he appears to appeal to Jewish voters who are considering pulling the lever for Trump. DFMI’s website has a landing page praising Harris’ “steadfast commitment to Israel’s security and combating the alarming rise in antisemitism,” but its closing argument is aimed at Trump enthusiasts — reflecting both parties’ strategy to woo undecided or undecided voters. This is the final part of a static campaign.

The Republican Jewish Coalition also appears to be reaching across the aisle in its closing ad, which takes direct aim at longtime Jewish Democrats and Jewish voters who harbor negative feelings about the former president. The commercial for Seinfeld was (arguably) filmed at Hymie’s, a Jewish-style deli in the Philadelphia suburb of Merion Station, and features three actresses playing Jewish women of a certain age. His speeches are very concise:

First Speaker: Have you watched the news lately? Israel is under attack, the kind of antisemitism I never thought I would see.

Second Speaker: Have you heard of Samantha’s son Max? He spat as he walked down the road.

First Speaker: I mean, it’s scary.

Third Speaker: What about Kamala?

Second Speaker (rolls eyes): Uh, busy defending the Team.

First Speaker: Oy vey. I never cared for Trump but at least he will keep us safe (dramatic pause).

Second Speaker: I have never voted Republican in my life. But I’m voting for Trump.

First and Third Speakers (raise coffee cups): Amen.

In an announcement it calls “a historic $15 million ad campaign targeting the Jewish community in key battleground states,” RJC says this final ad of the 2024 campaign reflects the fear and anxiety felt by our nation’s Jewish Americans. “We see that Israel is still under attack and anti-Semitism has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels here.”

In addition to aiming to create a permission structure for never-Trumpers to hold their noses and vote for him, the ad also appears to be a callback to 2009’s “The Great Schlep,” in which comedian Sarah Silverman encouraged young Jews to visit. They call their grandparents in Florida and convince them to vote for Barack Obama. “We encourage Jewish voters to listen to their Bubbies: It’s OK to vote for Donald Trump,” RJC says while promoting the ad.

If you go to the websites and social media feeds of each Democratic organization, you can find detailed cases filed against their candidates on Israel, the economy, abortion and healthcare. RJC’s Matt Brooks explains his organization’s stance on Trump in a bit more detail in a piece for the Washington Reporter.

But in closing arguments, partisan Jewish groups turn to kisks. To Democrats, Trump indulges anti-Semites and his enemies have authoritarian designs on the Constitution and the rule of law. He is also a transactional politician with isolationist tendencies and Israel is not to be trusted.

According to Republican Jews, Harris is in thrall to the progressive left. For all his flaws, they say, “at least” Trump will “keep us safe.”

Closing arguments can define a campaign in voters’ minds. They can also go unnoticed when events move beyond the news cycle, especially in the days before an election. (Trump has a peculiar genius for dominating these cycles, as he did recently with his riff on the size of golfer Arnold Palmer’s genitals and his McDonald’s worker costume.) Effective or not, appeals to Jewish voters are effective or not. It’s a reflection of their real concerns as they approach an Election Day that won’t come any time soon.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.



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