What to Watch
September 21, 2020
Election Day 2020 is just 43 days away, and here is your update
on the stories and trends to watch this week. Let us have your
feedback at [email protected].
Top News from the Weekend:
The Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the
first night of Rosh Hashana evoked two responses: the desire to honor
her service to the country and her personal merits, and the
determination that a new justice be nominated and confirmed quickly,
to return the Court to its full strength.
The Republican Jewish Coalition tweeted out this
response to the news of Ginsburg’s passing:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a trailblazer and a great
patriot. We, along with all Americans, mourn her passing. May her
memory be a blessing.
President Donald Trump first learned of her
passing from a reporter, after he’d been on stage at a rally in
Minnesota. He responded, “She
was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.” His public
statement a short while later paid tribute to Ginsburg’s
“brilliant mind” and said she “demonstrated that one can disagree
without being disagreeable toward one’s colleagues or different points
of view.”
Read respectful remembrances of Ginsburg by conservative
commentators here
and here.
The clash over whether President Trump can or should nominate
someone before the election to fill Ginsburg’s seat on the Court has
already begun. In short: He can; he should; and he will.
We’ll be discussing this topic more in the coming weeks, but to set
the stage for what is to come, we encourage you to read Dan
McLaughlin's excellent analysis of the law, the norms, and
the historical precedents supporting a Supreme Court nomination under
circumstances like these. His article, “History
is on the Side of Republicans Filling a Supreme Court Vacancy in
2020,” was published by National Review Online back in early
August.
RJC Releases New Ads
Supporting Susan Collins
Last week, the Republican Jewish Coalition released three digital
ads in support of Senator Susan Collins of Maine, in
addition to the ad released the week before. The RJC has increased the
buy for this set of ads to $450,000 total.
The first ad in this series for Susan Collins was targeted at women
voters. Former Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman
(D-CT) spoke about Collins’ commitment to issues women care about,
like jobs, health care, and the environment.
The new ads target moderate swing voters in Maine. They show
respected, moderate Republican governors, Larry Hogan
(R-MD) and Charlie Baker (R-MA), supporting Collins’
reelection.
You can see the ads here:
Lieberman
Hogan
Baker
Ad
with all three together
The endorsement of Senator Collins by Governors Hogan and Baker in
the RJC’s ads was reported by The
Hill and the Boston
Globe, which ran a second
story on the controversy that Baker’s participation has raised in
deep blue Massachusetts.
RJC in the News
The New York Times reports
on the message for voters in President Donald Trump’s
successful Mideast policies:
…[H]owever much Mr. Trump might value his diplomacy for its
potential to reshape the region, his campaign also sees a potent
political message that may not be top of mind for most voters but
could move a handful of the right ones in the right places.
…“This is an important event, not just because of the substance but
because of the symbolism as well,” said Matt Brooks,
the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “This shows
that the president is indeed a peacemaker, he is a statesman, he has
done something which successive administrations before him have been
unable to do — and on a grand and historic level.”
“I think that shows to people who may not be necessarily tuned in
to foreign policy that he’s got the leadership and judgment to act on
a vision and have success,” Mr. Brooks added.
Recommended Reading
Be Part of the RJC
Action!
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last week! We are reaching out to potential Jewish voters in Michigan,
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Join us this week on Tuesday, September 22,
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