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In 2000, Al Gore made history for bitterly clinging to his longshot bid to wrest the presidency from George W. Bush with legal shenanigans. But a few months before that, he made history for choosing Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, an observant Jew, as his running mate.
ItmarkedthefirsttimeaJewishAmericanhadeverbeenonthepresidentialticketofamajorpoliticalparty.
ThemediatookinstantnoteofLieberman’sJewishness,ofcourse.Themedialovesstoriesaboutpersonalidentityandbreakingtraditionalnorms.Sothiswaslikeamothtoaflame—orapyrotoaZippo.
Butthetone,newsangles,andstoriestheydidwithSenatorLiebermanwerestrikinglydifferentthanhowtheycoveredPennsylvaniaGovernorJoshShapiro’schancesin2024—andforgoodreason:Today’sDemocraticPartyishometounapologetic,outspokenantisemites.
Notall,ofcourse,butenoughtomatter.
WhenLiebermanwastapped,antisemitesweren’tyetakeyDemocraticvotingbloc.Nowtheyare.
IfyouseekIsrael’sdestruction,believeJewshavetoomuchinfluenceinAmericanforeignpolicy,andviewthePalestiniansasthemoralheirstoMahatmaGandhiandMart
