JEWS FOR BUSH?

Kerry Aides for Bush (Wall Street Journal)
The Boston Globe reports that Dick Holbrooke, a likely secretary of state in a Kerry administration, drew cheers in Florida--for praising President Bush:

"I'm not here to criticize President Bush," Holbrooke, a former United Nations ambassador, told hundreds of members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a major pro-Israel lobbying group, gathered for their annual summit. "His support for Israel is, in my mind, unquestionable."

The crowd--to Holbrooke's chagrin--offered rousing applause. "That was not," he said wryly, "supposed to be an applause line."

Jews traditionally vote heavily Democratic, but there's reason to think Bush may do better among them this year than he did in 2000:

A poll by the American Jewish Committee conducted at the end of August indicated 69 percent of respondents favoring Kerry, 24 percent supporting Bush, and 3 percent supporting Independent candidate Ralph Nader. Another 5 percent said
they were undecided. Bush won 19 percent of the Jewish vote nationwide in 2000.

Not a big shift, to be sure, but in a close race, every little bit counts. As blogger Jay Cost notes, "South Florida alone has 500,000 Jewish voters. If Bush does 5% better with Jewish voters, that could be a net 17,500 votes in South Florida." Four years ago Bush carried Florida by 537 votes.