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IU faculty offer insights on historic vice presidential choice
Aug. 7, 2000
EDITOR'S NOTE: In response to today's historic selection of Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the first Jewish vice presidential candidate in American history, we are providing comments by IU experts in political science and Jewish studies. Contact information for each expert is included, but should you have difficulty reaching them, please contact the IU Office of Communications and Marketing at 812-855-3911 for assistance. This document is also available through our office e-mail address, ocm@indiana.edu
Today's historic news that a Jew will be a candidate for the nation's second-highest office indicates a further maturing of American politics, which is becoming more open and inclusive, said Alvin H. Rosenfeld, director of the Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program at IU.
"Most Jews overwhelmingly will feel good about it. They will see that being a Jew in America is not a liability," Rosenfeld said.
"What we're going to see in the weeks and months ahead is that Lieberman's candidacy is going to be a way for a large number of people in America -- who don't know a lot about Jews and Judaism -- to become acquainted with many of their fellow citizens. I think they'll come to see that this is a man of learning, integrity and admirable morality, and that these things are not coincidental to his being Jewish, but are rooted in his Jewish sources," he said.
Lieberman's candidacy should help other citizens to overcome differences and misunderstandings they may have about Jews, he added.
Rosenfeld can be reached at 812-855-2325 (office), 812-339-8101 (home) or rosenfel@indiana.edu
While it is realistic to believe that Lieberman was selected because of his open criticism of President Clinton's conduct with Monica Lewinsky, another critical factor may be the senator's impact on political fund-raising among Jewish Americans, said Patrick J. McGeever, professor of political science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
"It's going to be very interesting to see how the whole thing plays out, because Gore has not been in a good position to deal with this issue (Clinton's controversies) in a very forthright way. Perhaps the choice of Lieberman will send a signal that he intends to be independent of Clinton, and that he is not going to carry water for him on the issue of integrity in the White House, which the Republicans are making so very central to their campaign," McGeever said.
Also, "Jewish campaign donors have been growing rather restive in recent years, and we're seeing defections over to the Republicans. I have a feeling that Gore's choice might have been designed to staunch that flow. That might very well turn out to have been a very key factor in Gore's decision," he said.
McGeever can be reached at 317-274-2041 (office), 317-842-7358 (home) or at iztd100@iupui.edu
Political pundits should be wary of making comparisons between Lieberman's selection as the first Orthodox Jewish candidate and other similarly historic choices as running mate, including the first female candidate, Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and the first Catholic elected president, John F. Kennedy in 1960. "It's difficult to make these judgments, even retrospectively," McGeever said.
For example, voters may have rejected Ferraro's candidacy more because of allegations made against her family or because they didn't like the top of the ticket.
"I think it will be even more so in this case. Probably people don't feel as strongly one way or another about a Jewish person being on the ticket," he said.
In the case of Kennedy, resistence to his candidacy included questions about his support of parochial schools and other Catholic Church issues. If there are any religious concerns about Lieberman, McGeever said, they may center on the U.S. relationship with Israel. "It's conceivable that Lieberman would have to persuade people that he was not pushing a foreign agenda at the expense of American political priorities," he said.
Lieberman's religion should not affect U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, but it might lead to serious discussion about his view of partial-birth abortion, Rosenfeld said.
"I think he's in line with mainstream American thinking on the Middle East. I don't know of any statements by Lieberman or any positions he's taken that would open up any distance between him and Clinton or Gore, or even between him and Bush," Rosenfeld said.
On the other hand, "It is often the case that observant Jews, and he is one, would not line up with the liberal stance on partial-birth abortion. If the record shows that he takes a position that is not supportive, that could become an issue with some segments of the voting public."
Speculation over Indiana's Evan Bayh as a running mate may be a source of pride for many Hoosiers, but likely will not affect the senator's long-term political aspirations, McGeever said.
"He had that opportunity to become very prominent very quickly, which now he doesn't. I suspect that if he has any ambitions toward the presidency, he'll still have a lot of time to pursue it and he'll pursue it more independently," said the political scientist. "I think a year from now nobody's going to remember who the finalists were."
For more than a quarter century, IU has been home to one of the foremost Jewish studies programs. The Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program, now in its 27th year at IU Bloomington, has a distinguished faculty that provides students with as wide a range of courses on Jewish people and Judaism as any university in the country. IU has become a magnet for students and international scholars studying Jewish history, society, religion, thought, language and literature. The program offers a bachelor of arts degree and a certificate in Jewish Studies, an honors program, and experiences abroad, including the Tel Bet Shemesh Archaeological field school. For more information, contact Rosenfeld or go to the program's Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~jsp/