I wanted to add to your post, Jen, that mentions Dan Senor’s thoughtful, measured, and quite powerful open letter to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is the driving force behind the plan to build a mosque and Muslim community center — the Cordoba House — at Ground Zero. Senor is an adjunct fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a resident of lower Manhattan. As he puts it:
Our deeper concern is what effect Cordoba House would have on the families of 9/11 victims, survivors of and first responders to the attacks, New Yorkers in general, and all Americans. As you have seen in the public reaction to the Cordoba House, 9/11 remains a deep wound for Americans—especially those who experienced it directly in some way. They understandably see the area as sacred ground. Nearly all of them also reject the equation of Islam with terrorism and do not blame the attacks on Muslims generally or on the Muslim faith. But many believe that Ground Zero should be reserved for memorials to the event itself and to its victims. They do not understand why of all possible locations in the city, Cordoba House must be sited so near to there … the exact street address of your cultural center cannot matter to the performance of its mission—but it very much does matter to the perceptions of your fellow Americans. We urge you to reconsider.
Imam Rauf certainly should — but probably will need some convincing. That’s why it would be mighty helpful if President Obama added his voice to the arguments laid out by Mr. Senor. It’s an issue Obama shouldn’t be allowed to vote “present” on.
The major problem with New Jersey is cheating. I don’t think it’s worth spending much effort there.
Of course a victory in New Jersey would offset a loss in Virginia. New Jersey has more electoral votes. The likelihood of victory in New Jersey is less than the likelihood of a loss in Virginia.
A victory in NJ for McCain would mean victory (landslides mostly) in 46 other states, with Virginia included in the landslide column.
As Mike says, if McCain wins NJ it won’t “offset” VA since it would mean that McCain would win both as well as nearly every other state. Heck, if the recent polls in NY & NJ are true (I doubt it), then something is very wrong with polls in places in WI that show Obama in the lead. Why would states that Kerry won by 15-20 points be within 3-5 while a state that he won by <1% show the same margin? Similarly, if those states are that close, then why aren’t people polling CA (Kerry by 10) to see what the situation is there?
As a South Jerseyite, I disagree with some of the comments above. New Jersey is – theoretically – within reach for a Republican who is perceived as a centrist. Christie Whitman was elected to two terms as Governor in the 90s, and going back a little further, Kean is considered one of the best NJ governors in recent memory.
Jerseyans are pretty ticked off at Gov. Jon Corzine (even those that haven’t always been!) and between his Wall Street roots and adamant anti-drilling stance, if there were ever a chance for GOP presidential candidate to carry the state, it’s this year. I still doubt it though.
I’m mixed up. Rosner is the chief US correspondent for Haaretz, a paper whose editorial line is liberal, progressive and quite the oppositie of many of the positions that Rosner has taken here. Over at haaretz, his last blog post carried this signature: First published in Contentions.
So, is he now a neocon and if so, is that okay by his editor? Is he working for Haaretz or also Commentary’s Contentions? And is this the normall professional behavior for a journalist?
I remember travelling along the Jersey Turnpike in the fall of 2000 listening to Rush excitedly say that Bush was within striking distance in New Jersey. Same type of hype in 2004 when a poll showed Bush within striking distance. In fact, if I remember correctly, as a reaction to the 2000 poll, W made a late campaign stop in the state. This is another teaser that, for some reason, poor polling creates in the state. I’ll bet all my “Contentions” credibility that McCain, even if he wins, will not take NJ and will lose by at least eight points.
If McCain won New Jersey, he also would have won Virginia. Yeesh, guys, give me something better than this.
Bush did do nine points better in NJ in 2004 than he did there in 2000, but he still lost by six points. There’s no reason, absent a tremendous hypothetical Bradley Effect, to believe that Mccain will win NJ.
Can’t blame you guys for trying for a “save” on the would not offset gaffe, but pretty lame nonetheless.
To the wondering Meidad: Rosner no longer works for Haaretz. He was always the conservative in a liberal paper, and his editors seemed to not care – untill this last editor who decided to get rid of him a week or two after assuming the editorship. Thus, they lost one of the top three writers they had, and their coverage of the US became ridicilously shallow (“McCain’s in trouble – Palin’s doughter is pregnant” – headline in Haaretz 2 weeks ago).