Specter, Obama’s First 100 Days, and NJDC

Aaron Keyak — April 30, 2009 – 11:02 am | Congress | Democrats | Obama | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

This week, days 97 through 103, has been a good week for President Barack Obama. The lead up to Obama’s first 100 days in office, as well as Senator Alren Specter’s decision to switch parties, has made for a busy week at NJDC.

Over the weekend, in a front page New York Times article Sheryl Gay Stoblerg reported, “The National Jewish Democratic Council will hold a conference call Monday to discuss ‘the Jewish perspective’ on the occasion [of Obama’s first 100 days in office].” Not a bad start.

An op-ed on Obama’s first 100 days as president by Marc R. Stanley, NJDC Chairman, ran in JTA, The Huffington Post, Washington Jewish Week, and will run in Jewish newspapers throughout the country by the end of the week. Stanley’s analysis and insight from our conference call were also picked up by Politico, UPI, JTA, and The New York Jewish Week.

An excerpt from Politico:

Jews were among those delighted with Obama’s early performance, according to the National Jewish Democratic Council, not just because of his policies towards Israel, but for creating green jobs. “In less than three and a half months, the Obama administration has already made marked progress with progressive policies that are important to our community: the economy, Israel, the Middle East, reproductive rights, renewable energy, and stem cell research,” the group’s chairman, Marc Stanley, wrote on Huffington Post.

However, interest in NJDC’s take on Obama’s first 100 days in office was quickly replaced by what we had to say on Specter’s switch. Ira N. Forman, our Executive Director, was interviewed by local nightly news stations News Channel 8 and Fox 5. Our response to the loss of the GOP’s sole Jewish Senator ran in U.S. News and World Report, Reuters, JTA, The Jerusalem Post, The New York Jewish Week, and many more media outlets.

From The New York Jewish Week:

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 3-raonking member of the House, is now the only Jewish Republican in Congress.

A jubilant Ira Forman, director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said “we welcome Arlen Specter to the ‘big tent’ Democratic Party. It seems like the Republican Party just wants to circle the wagons tighter, and is more interested in ideological purity than in expanding its base.”

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