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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review March 12, 2008 / 5 Adar II 5768

Illinois election an early warning for GOPers

By Jonathan Gurwitz


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Like the Wizard of Oz instructing Dorothy and her companions to pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, the National Republican Congressional Committee wants people to ignore what voters in Illinois' 14th Congressional District did in the ballot booth last weekend.


In a special election to fill the remainder of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's term, political newcomer Bill Foster defeated GOP candidate Jim Oberweis. That's not the way it was supposed to happen.


Hastert announced his retirement midterm, presumably to give a fellow Republican the advantage of running as an incumbent in November when a downdraft from the presidential election could sweep away additional, marginal GOP seats. But Illinois' 14th is hardly what you could call a marginal Republican district.


Hastert, the longest-serving GOP House speaker in history, prevailed there in 10 elections. Losing his seat, an aide to a top GOP lawmaker told The Politico, "is like the toppling of the Saddam statue in Baghdad for Republicans."


George W. Bush garnered 55 percent of the vote in 2004. Adding to the political symbolism, Ronald Reagan's birthplace in Tampico lies within the district. A Democrat hadn't won a House seat in the area since 1974, and then only for one term.


So an NRCC press release was keen to note, "The one thing 2008 has shown is that one election in one state does not prove a trend." In 1974, Democratic victories in special elections presaged the Watergate landslide in which Democrats picked up 49 House seats and four Senate seats.


The best way to stop a trend is to prevent it from starting in the first place. That's why the NRCC felt compelled to spend $1.2 million — which, as The Politico pointed out, was nearly one-fifth of its entire cash on hand — to secure an Oberweis victory in what should have been a safe district. Now that Toto has pulled back the curtain, the NRCC says it was just another election.


Can you read too much national significance into Foster's victory? Of course. As the Wall Street Journal's John Fund observed, the NRCC's media buys were poorly received in Illinois. And a bitter primary battle with a popular state senator left many conservatives disenchanted with Oberweis.


Still, there's plenty for a presidential candidate who has his own problems with the conservative wing of the party to worry about — and for a slew of Republican congressmen who face re-election in territory far less hospitable than Illinois District 14 was presumed to be.


Three issues motivated voters who punished GOP candidates at the polls in 2006: the war in Iraq, profligate spending by the GOP-led Congress and ethics scandals that touched disproportionately on the former GOP majority that Hastert led.


The surge has produced a measurable improvement in the security situation in Iraq, a development indispensable to the political vitality of John McCain. That situation is still tenuous, however, and the war remains deeply unpopular with the American people.


The Democratic leadership isn't remotely close to fulfilling campaign promises about restoring fiscal accountability in Washington. Yet with the exception of McCain and a few colleagues, such as Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint and Reps. Jeff Flake and Jeb Hensarling, Republicans in their newfound status as the opposition minority seem incapable of differentiating themselves from Democrats on pork barrel spending.


The Eliot Spitzer scandal has temporarily managed to shift the ethical spotlight to Albany — away from Washington and Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., who was indicted last month on 35 counts of extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges. But there may be more bad news for Republicans, as the FBI continues its investigation into possible fraud and theft by the former treasurer of the NRCC.


Eight months is a political eternity. Today's GOP troubles may melt like lemon drops by November. But the results of Illinois' special election is a warning that Republican hopes of holding on to the White House, let alone regaining seats in Congress, may be somewhere over the rainbow.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Comment by clicking here.

JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.

Jonathan Gurwitz Archives


© 2007, Jonathan Gurwitz

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