Monday, February 4, 2008

HILLARY GETS THE NYC ORTHODOX NOD

February 2, 2008
Orthodox Push For Clinton In Brooklyn (Updated)
This endorsement is being distributed among NYC Orthodox Jews, who are a focus point for the Clinton campaign in hopes of countering what is expected to be a big African-American turnout for Obama - particularly in Brooklyn, which is one of the centers of the Illinois senator's city support.

As Ben noted yesterday, the Obama campaign is particularly interested in five New York congressional districts - Towns (10th CD) and Clarke (11th CD) in Brooklyn and Maloney (14th CD), Nadler (8th CD) and Rangel (15th CD) in Manhattan.
Those districts not only have a high percentage of either black of liberal voters, but also boast six delegates each, rather than the standard five, which means a higher rate of return for the winner there.
The districts are also all represented by members of congress who have endorsed Clinton (the whole delegation is backing her).

UPDATE: A veteran observer of New York Jewish politics suggested I'm downplaying the significance of this mailer, saying it indicated the Clinton machine has a full-court-press on in Brooklyn, and are even nervous about losing support in Nadler's district, which includes the Orthodox neighborhood of Boro Park.
The observer also pointed out that trotting out the endorsement of Agudath Israel - a 501(c)(3) - and their rabbis is very unusual.

No comments: