The battle between Rothman and Pascrell is supposed to be the big race of the primary, and at this point, roughly 60 days out, it is far from certain who will receive the Democrat nomination. Rothman, who ran like a scared child from a general election fight with Republican Congressman Scott Garrett in the 5th District, decided instead to turn his attention to his comrade to the south.
If everyone knew I was too scared to take on the opposition and instead turned on an ally, I would be worried about my chances too. I cannot say that I blame Steve Rothman for playing the religion card in a place like Passaic City where a close-knit Orthodox Jewish population resides. It seems like a smart play.
But I am begging you, Republican Jews of the new 9th District, do not fall for Rothman’s game.
According to NorthJersey.com, Passaic City leaders are asking, on behalf of Rothman, for Republican Jews in the area to switch their party registration to Democrat in order to vote in the closed primary content this June. With a unified Jewish vote, regardless of true party affiliation, Rothman may have a chance to cut margins or even win areas that could get him across the line. The campaign has reportedly paid for letters sent out from 15 shuls in Passaic to their respective constituencies to facilitate this plan.
Pascrell immediately jumped on the move, through a spokesman.
If he can’t win among real Democrats, why is he even running in a Democratic primary?
He is right. Usually when you hear about a massive campaign to switch parties and vote in a contested primary, it is because people want to mess with their opponents and either get a weaker nominee selected or make the likely nominee appear to have less support among his party. Think back to all the Democrats who crossed the line this year to vote for Santorum just to make Romney look bad. It happens all the time. But what is more rare, and arguably more annoying, is a candidate making a play for members of the other party simply because he cannot garner enough support amongst his own.
The truth is, neither Bill Pascrell or Steve Rothman will be the ally to the Jewish people of New Jersey that they may claim to be. When it comes to the support of Israel, neither man is going to stand up to the Obama Administration that they both cling to so tightly during this very primary season. While both men are attempting to out-liberal one another in their internet ad buys, the truth is that both of them would likely vote the same way on every single issue that comes their way. They pledge an allegiance to the Democrat Party and liberal ideology, not to the interests of Jews and certainly not ones with politically conservative tendencies.
There is no reason for any Jewish Republican to make the switch by the April 11 deadline. You already have a better option come November! The Republicans will likely nominate “America’s Rabbi” Shmuley Boteach, an actual Rabbi who is not just trying to leverage the fact that his last name sounds Jewish to pick up votes. By switching to Democrat just to vote in the Rothman/Pascrell battle it screws up a lot of the logistical work that goes into running a solid Republican operation in a difficult district come November. I wont get into the inside baseball aspects of it and bore you, but I promise, a massive party migration and a vote in the Democrat primary will mess with voter target lists and hinder Rabbi Shmuley’s ability to reach out to conservative minded Jews in Passiac and elsewhere.
Not only that, but there will always be a record out there that you were registered Democrat for a while, and you know you don’t want that! If he is to be the Democrat nominee for Congress he should do it by getting Democrats to vote for him, not by playing the religious card. Do not fall for Rothman’s game, make him work for it and enjoy the show.
Too bad they both can't lose.