— Featured —











North Carolina Senate Race: Thom Tillis



One of the toughest Senate races this year is in North Carolina, where Thom Tillis is seeking a second term. Back in 2014, Tillis edged out incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan by 1.5%, and North Carolina is even more closely divided today.



This time, Democrats recruited former State Senator Cal Cunningham, and they've spent tens of millions of dollars on negative ads targeting Tillis. As a result of this barrage, polls show Tillis running behind the President at the top of the ticket.



But Tillis has been here before. His 2014 win was a come-from-behind surprise to the DC pundits. Now Tillis is in a position to do it again, by defining his opponent and prodding North Carolina voters to carefully consider whether they really want Chuck Schumer's Democrats to control the Senate.



Cunningham aims to portray himself as a moderate, but as his party lurches to the left, he's getting dragged along. He is supporting repeal of the 2017 tax cuts, urging US re-entry into the Obama Iran deal, and proudly accepting J Street's endorsement. Thom Tillis, on the other hand, has a record of strong support for Israel, including voting against Obama's Iran deal and supporting anti-BDS legislation. 



The battle for control of the Senate may well come down to this race. With Schumer all in for Cunningham, we need to be just as vigorous in our support for reelecting Thom Tillis.



The RJC PAC has endorsed Thom Tillis. You can help him win by clicking here <[link removed]> to support his campaign.



Please watch this space for more in-depth analysis on individual races in the critical 2020 elections. If you’d like to share your thoughts with me on any of these races, please email me at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. Click here <[link removed]> to see previous "Notes from Norm."







































RJC in the News











• The Republican Jewish Coalition pushed back on claims that the Democratic Party 2020 platform, voted on this week by the Democratic National Committee’s platform committee, supports Israel. The Algemeinerreports <[link removed]>: 



RJC spokesperson Neil Strauss told JNS, “Democrats can put whatever they want in their platform; we know, by their actions, what their party stands for. Joe Biden has invited Bernie Sanders’ viciously anti-Israel foreign-policy team onto his team. Nancy Pelosi endorsed the most anti-Semitic member of her caucus, [Minnesota Rep.] Ilhan Omar.”



“Supposedly pro-Israel groups on the left have stood by and tacitly supported the biggest pro-BDS voices in the party, [Michigan Rep.] Rashida Tlaib and Omar,” he continued. “So they can go ahead and push off the progressive wing from putting on paper that the Democrat Party is no longer a pro-Israel party, but the party leadership has already shown the world that Democrats have abandoned Israel.”



Read more about the Democratic Party platform below.



• The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on the rise of Parler <[link removed]>, an alternative to Twitter. RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks is quoted at length about the problems of anti-Semitism on Twitter <[link removed]>: 



Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, sees a pattern of Twitter accounts that remain active despite a history of anti-Semitic remarks, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, who tweeted that congressional support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins.”



“The fact that they find that people who want to showcase the Star of David in terms of their Jewish heritage and pride as hate speech is ridiculous and it’s really a crystal ball into the future where if this cancel culture and political correctness run amok is allowed to continue,” Brooks said.



For that reason, Brooks added, 2020 will be a contest that pits the right against “the progressive left who want to cancel everything and take down the Star of David and take down statues of (George) Washington and Mount Rushmore.”



• Reagan McCarthy at TownHall.com reports <[link removed]> on a statement by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman about allegations of anti-Semitism against Senator David Perdue (R-GA).



In his tenure in the Senate, [Perdue] co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of religious discrimination; Sen. Perdue co-sponsored SR189, which condemned anti-Semitism in all forms, and the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which established lynching as a criminal civil rights violation.



[Norm Coleman stated:]



“Time and again, Senator David Perdue has proven himself to be a true friend to the Jewish community and has stood firmly against anti-Semitic bigotry. Since coming to the Senate, he has consistently condemned hatred toward our community and has worked with national security leaders to protect synagogues and Jewish community centers from anti-Semitic threats and violence. Senator Perdue has made it clear that he strongly supports the right of all people to live free of anti-Semitism and hate in all forms.



I am proud to support Senator Perdue, a true ally of the Jewish community. Senator Perdue has stood with the Jewish community in both combatting anti-Semitism and his unwavering commitment to the security of the Jewish state of Israel.



On a personal note, I know Senator David Perdue to be one of the most decent individuals I have known. He is what my grandmother would call a “mensch”- a person of honor and high integrity. Any attempts to smear him with charges of anti-Semitism are simply false.”



• Sophie Panzer writes at the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent about Jewish voter outreach in 2020 <[link removed]>: 



With the pandemic preventing in-person events and racial justice protests sweeping the country, Jewish political groups are adapting their strategies for an unprecedented campaign season.



Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said one of his organization’s strong points is investment in state- of-the-art Jewish voter files.



“One of the reasons we’ve invested so much money in [voter files] is that, after successive campaigns of doing this, we realized traditional voter files were horrible in terms of having accurate Jewish voters on file,” he said.



In past elections, RJC phone bankers were pleased if 20% to 25% of the people they contacted from Jewish voter files were actually Jewish. Now, thanks to a team of statisticians and demographers, RJC has compiled files that yield a 60% to 75% Jewish voter contact rate. Volunteers have made more than 400,000 calls to Jewish voters in swing states.



Read more about the RJC's sophisticated voter outreach program here <[link removed]>. 



















Coleman on Jews and the Republican Party











RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman was interviewed by Jason Isaacson for an online AJC (American Jewish Committee) program on Jews and the Republican Party <[link removed]>. The discussion covered a variety of topics including: what the Republican Jewish Coalition does, the issues that Jewish Americans care about, why the Jewish community is important in every election, how the Republican principles express core Jewish values, and President Donald Trump’s accomplishments on issues that matter to our community. The whole program is worth your time.  <[link removed]>











<[link removed]>





Where the 2020 Democratic Party is Going





Jeff Dunetz at LidBlog.com <[link removed]> examines the 2020 Democratic platform approved by the party’s platform committee this week. He notes <[link removed]>: 



The Democrats are bragging that their 2020 platform is a pro-Israel one. That’s not true. The 2012 Democratic platform removed four crucial pro-Israel planks from its platform. During the 2012 Democratic party convention, one was put back (Jerusalem is Israel’s capital), over the objection of the delegates. These four planks were not added back to the platform in 2016 or 2020. Despite the bragging, the 2020 DNC platform is Anti-Israel.



The platform retained language saying that the future of Jerusalem is a matter for negotiation, even though the Trump Administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy there. On the other hand, language removed in 2012, that called on the US and other countries to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, is still missing in 2020.



Dunetz also looked at the elements of the Democrats’ 2020 platform dealing with Iran <[link removed]>. It includes a promise to bring the US back into the Obama-Biden nuclear deal with Iran. The platform language says that “returning to mutual compliance with the agreement is” urgent. Taking that step, however, would increase Iran’s opportunities to develop nuclear weapons quickly and to build the ballistic missiles to carry them.



At the Jewish Insider, Jacob Kornbluh reports on what one New York State Democrat’s primary election loss last week tells us about where the Democrat Party is going <[link removed]>:



A little over two years ago, New York Assemblyman Walter Mosley (D-Brooklyn) stood on the main stage at AIPAC’s policy conference in Washington, D.C., where he was recognized as one of the group’s leading African-American activists. Last week, Mosley, 52, lost his reelection bid to a 31-year-old primary challenger, a nurse named Phara Souffrant Forrest, who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).



… Mosley expressed concern that the group of newly elected DSA-aligned lawmakers will not just try to push their agenda in Albany, but also influence other statewide lawmakers and future candidates to take their side to advance their political careers. “You know, a lot of it is about self-preservation, about how I can keep my feet,” he explained. “You have members who are currently sitting in the Assembly, who have befriended DSA and their affiliates that you have to concern yourself with their allegiance and their priorities. If you’re a younger person who’s in the legislature, maybe your alignment is with DSA because you know they’re going to be around, potentially, for a very long time.”



























The RJC is committed to reelecting President Donald Trump, keeping the Senate, and winning back the House. We encourage our members to participate in our outreach phonebank project to help Republicans win in November. It's easy, and you can do it from home! Here's how YOU can help: 



- Sign up to call Jewish voters from home by clicking HERE <[link removed]>. 

- Fill out all of the fields.

- Listen to the instructions and write down your username and password when a member of the RJC Victory Team contacts you.

- Make as many phone calls as you can. Everyone you speak to is a potential vote for President Trump and the GOP!



Sign up now and you could be the next RJC Volunteer of the Week!







-------



The Republican Jewish Coalition is hiring field staff for our advocacy efforts in support of President Donald Trump’s reelection in various battleground states.CLICK HERE <[link removed]> for details and application information. 



-------



The RJC PAC has endorsed a terrific slate of House and Senate candidates, and we need them to continue their work on Capitol Hill! CLICK HERE to donate through the RJC PAC portal and show your support for our great candidates! <[link removed]>



-------



And don't forget your RJC/Trump kippah!

Our extremely popular red Trump kippah is now for sale for just $18. This includes shipping and handling. Supplies are limited. 





BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE. <[link removed]>































— Short Takes —



































Treasury and State Departments impose more sanctions on Assad regime <[link removed]>



The White House press secretary released a statement on Wednesday announcing new sanctions on four individuals and ten entities that support the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. The sanctions “continue the recent actions by the Trump Administration against those who enable the Assad regime’s violent reign of terror. On June 17, 2020, the United States designated nearly 40 individuals and entities also actively supporting the Assad regime. More sanctions will follow as part of a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure to deny the Assad regime the resources it uses to wage war against the Syrian people.”





Communist China and the Free World’s Future <[link removed]>



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a very important speech last Friday about China. It is worth reading or watching in full.



Israel was ground zero for the new woke religion <[link removed]>



Matti Friedman writes at Tablet Magazine that Israel was “patient zero” of the cancel culture we see today: “The successful creation and promotion of the Israel story transformed a real country into something so dangerous and disruptive to the desired order that it had to be canceled—an aspiration that has actually become a staple of politics on the left, and is now aired in the press as if it were completely rational.”



Fact check: No, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) did not say he believes slavery is a necessary evil <[link removed]>



Tiana Lowe at the Washington Examiner sets the record straight.



















































































— Tweets —











<[link removed]>















<[link removed]>











<[link removed]>











































— Events —



RJC Victory Team National Days of Action



Please join us for the upcoming RJC Victory Team Virtual Days of Action scheduled next week for Tuesday, August 4 and Thursday, August 6. We'll be calling potential Jewish voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia, key battleground states of the 2020 election cycle. Click here to sign up and help! <[link removed]>



Online local events:



On Sunday, August 2, RJC members in Atlanta will have a Zoom call with Senator David Perdue (R-GA). Email Emma Enig <mailto:[email protected]> for information.



On Wednesday, August 12, the RJC New Jersey Chapter will host a virtual meet-and-greet with State Senator Tom Kean, Jr. Contact Brett Epstein <mailto:[email protected]> for information.



While RJC offices are closed and our staff are teleworking, you can reach us by email or by phone (please leave a voicemail message and your call will be returned). Contact information <[link removed]> for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news <[link removed]>, to volunteer <[link removed]> for our 2020 outreach efforts, to see details of upcoming events <[link removed]>, and to donate <[link removed]> to the RJC.



























































































































































-=-=-

Republican Jewish Coalition - 50 F St NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20001, United States

This email was sent to [email protected]. To stop receiving emails: [link removed]

-=-=-



Created with NationBuilder - [link removed]