Tablet Magazine » Colorado

Colorado Election Could Exceed Election Day

Dan Klein — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:00:45 +0000

It’s Erev Simchat Democracy, the day before the day when we exercise our second-most important duty as citizens (after attending rallies put on by television personalities). America will be taken back and/or forward, and then it’s over for another two years, right?

Wrong! Because then comes recount season, particularly in Colorado where the Goldblog-endorsed and Jewish-descended Senator Michael Bennet trails Republican challenger Ken Buck in some polls by less than one percentage point. Imagine a fast that never ends until one of two men says it does. As the Denver Post reports, if the margin is less than half a percentage point, the recount is automatic and paid for by the state. Otherwise, either campaign can finance it for an estimated two million dollars. Pocket change!

If it comes to pass, Bennet will be continuing a new tradition of Jewish politicians winning or losing recounts, started in 2008-9 by Senator Al Franken and former Senator Norm Coleman. Remember our motto: Win or Lose, Tradition!

Earlier: Bennet, Blumenthal Take Home Wins

Jews in the Senior Chamber

How Jews Will Do Next Tuesday

Dan Klein — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:00:57 +0000

Are you exhausted yet? Are you registered yet? Simchat Democracy, on which we celebrate the end of a grueling election cycle and the dawn of a new one the very next day, is only one week away.

Two weeks ago, I predicted (with Nate Silver’s indispensable aid) that of the ten Jewish Senate races, the Tribe would hold onto seats in New York, California, and Oregon while gaining a seat in Connecticut, losing two in Wisconsin and Colorado, and falling short in Arizona, New Hampshire, and Ohio. The Pennsylvania seat, which currently belongs to Democrat Arlen Specter, is already lost. But two weeks is forever in politics, and the races in Colorado and Pennsylvania (which remains Jewish-related) have become competitive.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), who is of Jewish descent, wants this to be about social issues, I said, since Republican Ken Buck tends to be to the right of most Coloradans on those issues. Bennet decided to listen to me and hammer Buck on Buck’s opposition to abortion. Then, playing on the same court, Buck made an unforced error on Meet the Press, comparing homosexuality to alcoholism (he walked back his comments afterward). Somewhere, Yehuda Levin was choking on a pastrami and salami sandwich. Keep a close watch on this one, which is basically a dead heat.

The Pennsylvania race between Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican former Rep. Pat Toomey (neither of whom is Jewish) has also narrowed. Sestak was even up in a few polls last week, for the first time in months. I said last time that this race is weird, and I’ll say it again. Nobody, Silver included, knows why the polls that changed did so, and Toomey will still likely win. (In fact, a tracking poll updated late last night showed him up 48-40) I can only assume that the J Street and Emergency Committee for Israel ads are finally having an effect. Or not.

Earlier: Jews in the Senior Chamber
Carl Paladino’s Betrayal of Reason

Sundown: The Israeli Pledge of Allegiance

Marc Tracy — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:08:39 +0000

• A controversial bill to require Knesset members to swear loyalty to “the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist, democratic state” came up for debate today. The legislation is supported by Avigdor Lieberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party. [JPost]
• Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reportedly insisted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that East Jerusalem be on the table during final-status talks. [Arutz Sheva]
• Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat accused Israel of acting like a “spoiled child” on the topic of West Bank settlements. [Haaretz]
• The Websites of two Boulder, Colorado, synagogues were hacked and defaced with anti-Semitic messages. The unidentified culprit goes by the handle Waja (Adi Noor). [Denver Post]
• Tablet Magazine contributing editor Jeffrey Goldberg wonders what former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who lapsed into a coma exactly four years ago, would think now of his decision several years ago to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. [The Atlantic]

Sundown: The Game of Death

Hadara Graubart — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:00:02 +0000

• A new Holocaust board game: “Once a train reaches the ‘finish line,’ the game is completed and it is revealed that the destination of the trains is Auschwitz. Nobody ‘wins.’” Sound like fun? It’s not supposed to be. [WSJ]
• On the Orthodox Union’s website, Chana Willig Levy draws parallels between the Kindle and Jewish life. Yes, the electronic book-reading doohickey. “The Kindle’s inner workings remain a mystery for most of us. … Similarly, the inner workings of our planet are shrouded in mystery.” [OU]
• Apparently, 20 years or so of gradually increasing involvement by women in Judaism is enough to make up for the thousands of years preceding; Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin feels there’s now a need for his book, The Modern Men’s Torah Commentary. [Jewish Week]
• Israeli officials plan to use Canada as inspiration in trying to better integrate the nation’s various cultural populations, a goal that’s probably easier to achieve when people live miles from their closest neighbor. [Globe and Mail]
• The editors of a Colorado paper try to make up for using the phrase “of Jewish descent” to describe a suspected criminal by falling all over themselves to parse that age old question: How else do you describe a hairy guy with a big nose? [Vail Daily]

Sundown: Sex, Booze, and Parking

Hadara Graubart — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:30:51 +0000

• Promotional condoms advertising Israel tourism were “received with disgust” by Londoners, who apparently don’t want distractions while they’re lying back and thinking of England. [UPI]
• How we know the Soviets lost: Kosher Jewish vodka from Russia. Why we shouldn’t be so sure: the label featuring drunken yids harassing a dog. [Jewlicious]
• In what “could be one of the most significant operatic productions of the year,” the Choir of London is set to perform La Bohème in the Palestinian territories. [Guardian]
• Some incredible photos of violence that erupted when ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel protested a new parking lot that will operate on the Sabbath. [news.com.au]
• Boulder, Colorado, held its 15th annual festival celebrating its “diverse” Jewish community, which ranges from those who won’t play hackey sack on the Sabbath, to those who attend drum-circle minyans. [Daily Camera]
• A historic synagogue in Brookhaven, Mississippi, may be transformed into a Jewish heritage museum, making it the only tourist attraction in town. [Daily Leader]
• Ha’aretz launches a new series, following five new recruits to an Israel Defense Forces combat unit. Some recurring themes: too little sleep, too many strangers. [Haaretz]