Clinton, Edwards to work same AIPAC meeting
New York Sun - February 1, 2007 http://www.nysun.com/article/47843
Clinton, Edwards Will Square Off At Aipac Tonight BY JILL GARDINER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
Two of the leading Democratic candidates for president will compete
head-to-head tonight for money and support from the same pro-Israel
group.
Senator Clinton and John Edwards are scheduled to appear at a dinner
for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Marriott
Marquis in Times Square.
Mrs. Clinton will deliver the keynote speech, while Mr. Edwards is
expected to work the crowd at the cocktail reception before she
speaks, making a face-to-face encounter unlikely, but not impossible.
“When it comes to important gatherings like this, there is going to
be a lot of pressure on the major candidates to not let one of their
competitors have the room to themselves,” a Democratic strategist,
Daniel Gerstein, said.
Tonight’s event is the first time any of the 2008 candidates have
competed for attention in the same room since they launched their
campaigns in earnest. It is also an important illustration of just
how much stock all of the presidential candidates, Democrats and
Republicans alike, will put in the pro-Israel community, particularly
for campaign dollars.
Just last week, Mr. Edwards and two Republican presidential
candidates, Senator McCain of Arizona and a former governor of
Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, staunchly defended Israel while speaking
to a conference. And Governor Pataki, a Republican who left office
last month and backed away from his plans to run for president
earlier this week, also is expected to make an appearance at the
Aipac dinner.
A Democratic political consultant who worked on President Clinton’s
re-election campaign, Hank Sheinkopf, noted that the Aipac dinner
always draws a parade of politicians.
“New York is the ATM for American politicians. Large amounts of money
come from the Jewish community,” he said. “If you’re running for
president and you want dollars from that group, you need to show that
you’re interested in the issue that matters most to them.”
Mrs. Clinton, who has opted out of the public campaign financing
system, has tapped into the circuit of influential Jewish donors for
years and has strong support in the community. A spokesman for Aipac,
Joshua Block, said yesterday that the senator and former first lady
has “an extremely consistent and strong record of support on issues
that are important to the pro-Israel community.”
“She is an extraordinary leader on those issues in the United States
Senate,” he said.
Mr. Block said Mr. Edwards has a “strong record from his time in the
Senate.” He pointed out that the former senator from North Carolina
spoke last year at Aipac’s policy forum in Washington and that Mrs.
Clinton spoke at the same event the year before.
Mr. Gerstein, an adviser to Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, said
that while Mr. Edwards may not be able to outmuscle Mrs. Clinton for
contributions from the pro-Israel community, making an appearance at
the dinner is a wise political decision.
“It’s a smart move on his part to show that he’s not conceding
anything and that he’s going to compete,” Mr. Gerstein said. “Even
more importantly, it’s an opportunity to credential himself with an
important national security constituency group.”
Many view Mr. Edward’s light foreign policy résumé as his biggest
vulnerability.
Tonight’s dinner comes nearly two months after Mr. Edwards tapped a
former Michigan congressman and vocal critic of Israel, David Bonior,
to run his campaign. The candidate’s choice of Mr. Bonior elicited a
puzzled response and put a damper on support from the pro-Israel
community.
Yet Mr. Edwards, who is appealing to anti-war advocates with his push
to withdraw American troops from Iraq, took a hawkish stance on
Israel last week while speaking via satellite to a conference in
Herzliya, Israel. “Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have
nuclear weapons,” he said. He later suggested that America should
take military action against Iran if necessary, noting that “all
options must remain on the table.”
Indeed, how to deal with Iran is likely to be the next majority
foreign policy conundrum the 2008 presidential candidates face.
While Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Clinton have different positions on how to
deal with the Iraq war, each has used harsh language on Iran.
Both favor starting diplomatic discussions with the regime — an
argument that runs counter to President Bush’s current policy.
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:44 am
I find the thought of these two people groveling for money at this meeting disgusting. We need campaign finance reform. You can probably bet AIPAC would be against it.