Apr 28th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
The Democrats’ Jewish Problem
Before the 2008 election, there were three Jewish Republicans in congress. Now one of them (Norm Coleman) lost his seat and another (Arlen Specter) has switched parties. It’s gonna be a lonely Hanukkah for Eric Cantor.
33 Responses to “The Democrats’ Jewish Problem”
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April 28th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
The Democrats’ Jewish Problem
Um, Matt, sure you don’t mean “The Republicans’ Jewish Problem?” Have you hired that proofreader yet?
April 28th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
When Cantor spins his dreidel he can be Doctor Nun.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Joe Lieberman might be willing to keep Cantor company, depending on how you draw party lines.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Maybe the Jewish Democrats can dance a Horah around the Senate floor to the music of “Fiddler on the Roof” and invite Cantor to join the circle.
That should make Mitch McConnell’s head explode.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I think Matt is saying the Dems have a Jewish problem because of all the Jews that are hanging around. Matt is famously anti-Semitic. Or am I reading that wrong …?
April 28th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I presume the title is in line with Matt/Atrios’/left-blogostan’s mockery of the media’s constant hand-wringing about how Democrats may be losing voter demographic X. In the case of the Jewish vote, this usually takes place due to some wingnuts slamming the Dems as being insufficiently pro-Israel.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
The title is ironic, and is an “issue” that is commonly raised by the neocons, Likudniks, bible-thumpers, and the other geniuses of the Right.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
It’s not a good sign that Matt’s post’s title could be due to irony or a typo, and it’s 50-50 as to which it was.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Yeah, this is like “the boy who cried wolf” in reverse: Matt’s “mistakes” are so often genuine that it’s hard to tell when they’re ironic.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
The title is ironic, and is an “issue” that is commonly raised by the neocons, Likudniks, bible-thumpers, and the other geniuses of the Right.
Sincere thanks for that. Distinguishing between typos and jokes on Yggy’s blog is hard work, indeed.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Tom Veil when are you going to get that irony detector ?
April 28th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
The Republicans and national media wring their hands about The Democrats’ Jewish Problem every four years. John Kerry was going to have a Jewish Problem. Barack Obama was going to have a Jewish Problem.
Then they win Jews by the normal 60-point margin, and 3 years later, the stories start again.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I also think it was deliberate sarcasm, but on reflection I kinda like the idea of referring to Cantor specifically as “the Democrats’ Jewish Problem”.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
wait, you mean coleman vs. franken was a jew-on-jew match?
man, does michelle bachmann know that? how can she sleep at night?
April 28th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
“It’s gonna be a lonely Hanukkah for Eric Cantor.”
Umm, don’t you mean Passover? I may be a goy, but I know that Hannukah isn’t a very serious holiday. But Passover rocks. Lot’s of great food and wine. And an empty chair for Elijah. It’s the Jewish version of Thanksgiving, but without the football. I should note the we don’t drink kosher wine for Passover, we go with the good stuff. If Moses didn’t have time to leaven bread, he didn’t have time to pasteurize wine. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. But I’m a goy, so what do I know?
April 28th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
That’s why Manicewitz is so shitty, fostert.
You can tell that I, too, am goyish, though I’m doubtful even the Chosen can spell Maniscevitz correctly.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
fostert, it will be a lonely Hannukah long before it will be a lonely Passover …
Although it will of course be a lonely Yom Kippur and Rosh HaShana first.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Luke, you are being unfair to Manishevitz, because you’re making a category error. As wine, sure, it it’s awful. But it’s not really wine; it’s highly alcoholic grape juice.
Consider: it’s really cheap, it’s incredibly sweet, and the rules dictate that it be given to the kids as well as the adults at Passover (not that these rules are always followed). So while you hopefully learn later in life to drink real wine in preference to Manishevitz, many young Jews get tipsy on Manishevitz long before they even have access to any other bad stuff, let alone decent stuff.
April 28th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
A former colleague of mine who was a Lutheran, once told me that his church uses Manischewitz wine in its communion service.
April 28th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Do Jewish people spend their Holidays with colleagues rather than family members? Or has Cantor’s family abandoned him as well?
April 28th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
A former colleague of mine who was a Lutheran, once told me that his church uses Manischewitz wine in its communion service.
Back when I was an altar boy, the alcoholic priest at my church got grape juice.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Though the only Socialist in the Senate is ALSO one of the tribe. Hopefully, one day we can have a full panoply of the tribe from monarchists to communists in the Senate!
April 28th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I think the Jewish Republican caucus, such as it is, should rename itself “Jews for Jesus” and be done with it.
April 28th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
“A former colleague of mine who was a Lutheran, once told me that his church uses Manischewitz wine in its communion service.”
Well that explains the crappy wine at Communion. But at least it wasn’t Night Train.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
“But it’s not really wine; it’s highly alcoholic grape juice.”
Now that’s being honest. But if we’re going there, Night Train might be the better option. It has more alcohol, after all. But then again, grain alcohol and grape Kool Aid works well enough. But I’ll just stick to my bourbon.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
joe from Lowell has it right…..Yglesias is lampooning the perennial media nonsense about the Democratic Party losing Jewish support, despite the failure of actual Jews to accept the Republican viewpoint in significant numbers.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Agree with Joe from Lowell and Jeff.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Now the Republican Party has as many Jews in Congress as the Connecticut for Lieberman Party.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
[...] Yglesias: [...]
April 28th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I guess I should note that I’ve had my fair share of moonshine. It usually runs about 95% alcohol. And whatever that other 5% is, it sure tastes nasty. In general, I’d say the folks in Kentucky make the best moonshine, but that isn’t really saying much. But it’s way better than what the Vietnamese make. That stuff can’t be defined in normal alcohol terms. It’s somewhere between diesel fuel and low octane gasoline in flavor. But it would be impolite not to take a taste or twenty. So you end up on the floor next to your Vietnamese buddy wondering if your eyes will ever work again. Was that ethanol or methanol? If you can see again, it’s the former. And that head pounding really is a Vietnamese woman kicking you in the head, but when she stops, it doesn’t.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Wait, Arlen Specter did WHAT now?
…. man, you tune out for a couple days to panic about swine flu, and look what happens.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:17 am
I think we should all plan to celebrate this year’s Hanukkah in Jizzrael!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:27 am
It seems Ben Gilman, the second-to-last Jewish Republican House Rep, is now forgotten. Well, it’s been six or seven years since they cut up his district. He’s 86 now.