Gingrich and Romney's Jewish Problems

Creative reporters always find some Jewish issues to tag to political candidates, and they surely found some Jewish angles to inject in the heated Florida Primary contest.

A Forward writer thinks that Gingrich's frequent invoking of Saul Alinsky is because the name sounds Jewish and Russian. To paraphrase the writer, "I might be overreacting, it’s possible" -  but I have a good article...

And a Huffington Post contributor thinks that Romney might have a Jewish problem because his church baptized holocaust victims posthumously. When Romney was asked about it in 2007, he replied that he's "not a cafeteria Mormon" and adheres to all tenets of his faith. But Romney, a former bishop and top church official in Boston, referred specific questions to religious leaders, Andrea Stone writes.



When Newsweek magazine asked Romney if he personally had performed posthumous baptisms on anyone, author Jonathan Darman wrote, "he looked slightly startled and answered, 'I have in my life, but I haven't recently.' The awareness of how odd this will sound to many Americans is what makes Romney hesitant to elaborate on the Mormon question."

There was no mention, and it is not known, whether the people that Romney personally baptized were Jewish.

Requests for comment by Romney campaign and the Mormon Church were not answered.

She adds that Jews have been "somewhat more likely than Americans as a whole to say that a presidential candidate’s Mormon affiliation wouldn't make them less likely to support that candidate," said Kenneth Wald, a University of Florida political scientist who studies religion and elections. But, Wald added, other than the small minority of Orthodox Jews who lean Republican, most American Jews have "some concerns about what they perceive as the theopolitical nature of Mormonism." A recent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life report stated, "Mormons are more conservative than the general public on a variety of political, social and moral issues."

Seriously, does she think that the voters in Palm Beach are aware of this issue, and will base their vote on it?

If any think can concern Jews in this race, it would rather be the Gingrich Sharpton alliance.



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