Remember back in 2016 we almost had a Jewish President named Bernie Sanders. If it was Sanders vs Trump I think Sanders would have won but as they do now Republicans would have blood on their hands.
I remember the campaign of John F. Kennedy. It was mostly, can a Catholic be president of the United States?
The John Birch Society actively recruited in the square of York PA. York had competing liberal and conservative newspapers. It seemed that the JBS had lots of support but when JFK was shot the normally bustling streets of York PA were silent. The true character of the people of this nation was always tolerance of others. It just needs to be brought to the surface.
Josh Shapiro did that in Pennsylvania.
"It’s been referred to as a “haven” for white supremacists and neo-Nazis. It’s been linked to Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who has paid the platform for advertising. And it has been the focus of ire from state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the state’s Jewish Democratic nominee for governor, who has criticized his opponent for courting “antisemitic, racist, alt-right extremists” on the platform…
So what exactly is Gab, the conservative, Pennsylvania-based social media platform – and how does it factor into Pennsylvania’s race for governor? Below, City & State walks through the history of the social media platform, the type of content that appears on the site and how the platform and its founder have become a topic of conversation in the state’s midterm election for governor. Gab was most notoriously used by Robert Bowers, the man accused of killing 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.
In his Gab bio, Bowers described Jews as the “children of satan” and made other posts that use slurs directed at people of the Jewish faith, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gab users have also directed antisemitic comments and attacks at Shapiro in the comments of posts published by Mastriano."
MORE AT:
What is Gab? A look at the far-right social media platform backing Doug Mastriano
Gab has been called a haven for hate speech and white supremacists
Editor’s note: This story includes text and images that some readers may find offensive. City & State does not endorse or condone any of the viewpoints expressed in this article.
By Justin Sweitzer
Back in the day of the “baby boomers” Jews had to hide their identity to run for office:
“The late Milton Shapp, who led the state for much of the 1970s, had changed his name out of concern for antisemitism, according to a National Governors Association biography. Shapp didn’t emphasize his heritage, but he was open about it. After his longshot bid for higher office in 1976 sputtered as soon as it began, he quipped that his memoirs should be titled, “I Never Became the First Jewish President.”
Gov. Ed Rendell, who served from 2003 to 2011, was also open about his Jewish heritage but spoke mainly of having a general Golden Rule philosophy of treating others as one would want to be treated.
While Jews have won public office for decades, even with the legacy of discrimination in the United States, many point to the political career of former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman as a turning point. Lieberman was the first religiously observant Jew on a major presidential ticket when he ran as Democrat Al Gore's vice presidential running mate in 2000. His commitment to observing the Sabbath, including refraining from campaigning, won admirers.
“Once upon a time, having a Jew on your ticket would have cost you,” Sarna said. "In this case, the scholars concluded it actually aided him (Gore)," though not enough to win.
Mark Silk, professor of religion in public life at Trinity College in Connecticut, said that Shapiro, “in the current moment, given the purple character of Pennsylvania, may be considered to have done himself more good than harm” in forthrightly speaking of his religion.
“Any price that Shapiro might have paid for being out there publicly as a Jewish candidate hurt him less than it hurt Mastriano being out there as a Christian nationalist Trumpian," he said.”
Josh Shapiro will be taking office as Pennsylvania's next governor in January after running a campaign in which he spoke early and often about his Jewish religious heritage.
At a time of rising concern about overt expressions of antisemitism, some observers are seeing a bright spot in his decisive victory, particularly coming in a presidential battleground state in which he was competing with a starkly contrasting opponent who deployed Christian nationalist themes.
The state voted in 2016 for Donald Trump — the former president who was recently criticized even by his Jewish supporters for dining with guests with well-known antisemitic views. It’s also the state that saw the nation’s deadliest outburst of antisemitism in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh, which claimed 11 lives.
Shapiro won by 14 percentage points and built a classic Democratic coalition that included progressives from multiple faith traditions as well as the non-religious. He received the endorsement of groups like the Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity. Shapiro outpolled his opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, among Catholics, and he received an 80% share of votes of those with no religious affiliation, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of midterm voters.
And his candidacy was closely followed by the Jewish community, which recalled in particular his response as the state's top law enforcement officer to the Tree of Life attack.
MORE AT:
For Jews, Shapiro's big win is a high note amid antisemitism
By Peter Smith | Associated Press
Published December 26, 2022 at 5:35 AM EST
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