Jewish Donors Split On 2004 Race

[Resistance]

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential hopeful, recently spent the night at the Philadelphia home of Peter Buttenwieser.

That's surprising, considering that Buttenwieser has given $2,000 to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) -- and to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).

"A litmus test for me is a candidate has to be good on Israel," said Buttenwieser, who is Jewish. "But all of these candidates are good on Israel."

"To me, political fund raising is all about relationships," said Lonnie Kaplan, a former president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who is on Lieberman's finance committee. "When I ask my friends for help, I am guessing that other people have asked them for help as well."

Steve Grossman, national co-chair of Dean's campaign and another former AIPAC president, said Dean has had to look for Jewish donors that do not place Israel at the top of their agenda, because so many of them are pleased with Bush's stance on terrorism and disappointed with Dean's criticism of the U.S. war in Iraq.

(parts snipped - follow link for more)

[arcos]

1. there's no link

n/t

[Resistance]

2. sorry, link is here

http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/3189.stm

[CitizenDick]

3. Dean is a bit more conservative

than folks realize. His AIPAC-type stand on Israel is one of the reasons I support Kucinich, who is far more balanced.