What is the Jewish angle in all American elections? There are three: the Jewishness of a candidate, such as Donald Trump (Jewish daughter and grandchildren) or Bernie Sanders (Jewish); the Jewishness of the voters — that is, which candidate will win the support of Jewish voters. A lot is known about these two angles.
We’re familiar with the candidates, their ancestry and their religious or cultural identification. We take pride in them if they are elected. We worry about their success, lest it awakens old demons. Think Joe Lieberman, 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee on the Al Gore ticket. Think John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate whose Jewish grandparents converted to Catholicism. Think Clinton’s son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky.
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