Please Pick Me Up, I’m FREE! There is much to be learned in these pages Fall / Election - 5769/2008 CHICAGO’S MOST RESPECTED JEWISH PUBLICATION In the right corner it’s John McCain and in the left corner it’s Barack Obama In a Main Event for the Ages! Shapiro Alvarez and Peraica challenges face off for Brown for States Attorney Clerk of the Circuit Court Santos, Meany & Avilla run for MWRD reelection Complete Election Guide Inside Have we got some quality Judges for you? The Most Complete Judicial Review in Town! His candidacy never really got very far out of the starting gate. A scandal in the deployment Jewish Chicago Election Analysis of New York resources for his benefit (not cash, but personal interests) and poorly conceived campaign strategy caused him to drop out of the race right before primary election day in Illinois, by Avy Meyers but after Jewish Chicago had hit the streets and endorsed him for the Republican nomination. McCain was second choice. Through out the two years that this presidential election campaign has been underway, there Governor Mitt Romney, who was favored by some, contended very early, but not for long. have been a never ending series of surprises. While this close to the November 4th election, the McCain wrapped up his parties nomination early in the process, and stood by and watched outcome seems apparent, the surprises should continue well after election day and the inauguration Senator Hillary Clinton and Obama go at each other. He laid off attacking early, preferring to of our new president. build his base and save his best shots for later. McCain has been a consistent friend and supporter Before running down every office from the presidency to the judiciary and a call for a new of Israel through out his career. There have been better friends, but not very many. constitutional convention, it is important for everyone to know the criteria used in making McCain has always been thought of as a decent man, especially for an elected official. The endorsements and recommendations. We are looking for the best combination of quality for both maverick label is more than just a campaign tag, he has often had the courage of his convictions the Jewish community as well as our city, county, state and country. Want a President who is to publicly battle the leadership of the Republican Party. Of course the Democrats brought up going to appoint liberal or conservative justices to the supreme court? That is not our concern. McCain’s role in the Keating Five scandal in which five senators, Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis We subscribe to neither party or ideology. We want the best candidate. We believe in practical DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle (D-MI), solutions for practical problems while always keeping the best interest of the Jewish Community were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of in mind. the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, who was investigated by the Federal Home Loan Bank While I produce and host a weekly cable television neighborhood news show, it is a different Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB did not take any action. entity than Jewish Chicago. The Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and If you are reading this publication at http://avyworld.com/ on a computer that is hooked up to Donald Riegle had interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Cranston the web, all you have to do is double click on any active web address in this publication and that was reprimanded. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of improper actions but web site will open in a secondary window. criticized for exercising “poor judgment”. Israel and the Jewish Religion That is about the only real scar on his record and it can be argued that he has learned well from Every true Jewish soul understands that our spiritual home is, was and will be Israel. It can’t just this incident and has become a better man as a result. be any old stretch of land where we gather. When Menachem Begin was Prime Minister of Israel, In the 2000 Republican Primary he was the victim of dirty tricks courtesy of the George W. he visited the Moetzes G’dolei HaTorah, the council of great Rabbinical Sages for advice and Bush campaign. McCain and Bush made peace, which is something virtually every intelligent council. They told him, that whenever someone asks what claim the Jewish people have to Israel, politician who wants to survive, does with his party’s victors if he wants to remain on the scene. tell them it is ours because G-d gave Israel to our forefather Avrohom and to his future generations The Democrats linking McCain to Bush is a good strategy due to Bush’s low popularity with the (us) until the end of time as stated in the Torah. American people. Prime Minister Begin followed their advice and in doing so not only told it the way it is, McCain is his own man and he has his own ideas. Of course Republican’s will have more but sancitified G-d’s name in the process. It is important to remember that Judaism is in fact a similarities than they do with Democrats and the opposite is of course true. religion. In an October 14th article in Forbes, (http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/13/israel- mccain-obama-oped-cx_mbo_1013oren.html) Michael B. Oren, a Senior Fellow at the Shalem The Presidential Election Center, a Jerusalem-based research facility, where he specializes in the diplomatic and military Neither Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama was the first choice of very many history of the Middle East, has written extensively for The New York Times, The Wall Street Jewish voters. Journal, and The New Republic, has been interviewed on CNN, Fox, The Charlie Rose Show, The On the Republican side, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the first pick of many, he Daily Show, and Today. Oren, the CBS Middle East expert, found the following in comparing the stood extremely strong for Israel and had a great history with New York’s Jewish community. His Israel policy of John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. (The following 6 paragraphs, the first actions during 9/11 made him a national hero. five in open quotes, through the final paragraph which has an end quote are taken directly from this very Forbes article.) “Apart from their common commitment to Israel and to the search for peace between it and the Arabs, Barack Obama and John McCain differ significantly on virtually every issue. “McCain, for example, favors transferring the U.S. embassy, situated in Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem - an action certain to antagonize the Arabs - while Obama has not supported the move. Obama, on the other hand, has expressed reservations about Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank, while McCain has overlooked the matter. “McCain has called on the Palestinian Authority to live up to its obligations to clamp down on terror, but Obama has stopped short of making such a demand. Obama has supported Israel’s cease fire with Hamas in Gaza and its peace talks with Syria; McCain opposes both. “McCain insists that the Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be solved without first confronting Islamic radicalism. Obama believes that the Arab-Israeli dispute, though not the root of all Middle Eastern conflicts, is nevertheless a “constant sore” that “infects all of our foreign policy. “The differences between the candidates on a continued American military presence in Iraq and proposed talks with Iran are well-documented. McCain favors the first and opposes the second, and Obama’s positions are exactly reversed. Regarding the war on terror, Obama advocates a return to the Clinton-era treatment of terrorists as criminals who should be tried by the justice system. McCain, by contrast, upholds the Bush Doctrine of preemption and the defeat of terror by extra-Constitutional means. “Which of these policies are best for Israel depends on one’s definition of best. Some might prefer an America that is even-handed in peace talks, dedicated to achieving a comprehensive Arab-Israeli agreement and open to dialogue with its enemies. Others favor an America that is more sympathetic to Israel in negotiations, committed to fighting Islamic radicalism and ready to act preemptively - unilaterally if necessary - against terror. An America led by McCain or Obama will pursue substantially different courses in the Middle East, impelling Israel down widely divergent paths.” This country usually works best when the Democrats and Republicans take turns being in power and neither has control of the presidency together with both houses of Congress. Clinton was president for 8 years, then it was time for a Republican, but certainly not George W. Bush. Jewish Chicago backed McCain in the 2000 primaries and none of the Democrats. When it came up Bush v. Gore, I backed Gore. I still can’t believe that at that time, anybody ever voted for Bush for Dog Catcher, let alone Governor or President. By the same theory, it would seem to be that this is the right time for a Democratic Presidency. Jewish Chicago strongly backed Hillary Clinton and stated in our primary issue: “there is absolutely no reason any Jewish person should be voting for Obama, none!” Conservative, pro-Israel columnist Dennis Prager in a recent column (http://townhall.com/ columnists/DennisPrager/2008/10/14/there_are_two_irreconcilable_americas) opined that he always felt that both liberal and conservative Americans had a vision of the same America, they just differed on ways to get there.