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Thread ID: 12296 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2004-02-13
2004-02-13 02:25 | User Profile
[url]http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/current-paper/inter-02.html[/url] (temporary link Australian Jewish News) Kerry appeals to Jews, Arabs ron kampas
WASHINGTON ââ¬â A couple of weeks after eating lox and cream cheese at a synagogue in Des Moines, John Kerry took on bitter Arab coffee and baklava among Muslims in Cedar Rapids.
Both appearances had a salutary effect in the caucus meeting last month when the majority of Iowaââ¬â¢s Jews and Arabs helped the Massachusetts senator come out the clear winner.
Itââ¬â¢s a pattern repeating itself nationwide. Kerry, 60, who after Tuesdayââ¬â¢s primaries has solidified his position as the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, appeals to competing constituencies otherwise at odds in the battle for the Democratic soul.
He is a friend to Jews and Arabs, a veteran of both the Vietnam War and of the movement that ended it, a fiscal conservative and an advocate of government spending for the disenfranchised, an opponent of President Bushââ¬â¢s handling of the Iraq War, and a supporter of an assertive US posture in the Persian Gulf.
Kerryââ¬â¢s positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are a study in his facility for casting his speeches according to his audience, and filling them with knowledgeable terms and detailed anecdotes.