— Featured —







Maine Senate Race Update



Back in July, I wrote in this space about the key race in Maine, where my friend Senator Susan Collins is facing off against State House Speaker Sara Gideon. I noted that Senator Collins is a model Senator who has never missed a vote in twenty-four years and sets the standard for bipartisanship and effectiveness. I also emphasized that she is a reliable supporter of the US-Israel alliance while her opponent has aligned with J Street.



In the weeks since then, the Pine Tree State has been inundated with television ads - most of them negative attacks on Senator Collins funded by Chuck Schumer's political machine and by other out-of-state liberals who despise the incumbent, because she supported President Donald Trump's Supreme Court picks and is willing to work with the President to help her state.



But as the race heads into the home stretch, we've also seen what a determined fighter Susan Collins is. She has been forceful and convincing in arguing that Mainers need an experienced, principled, and independent senior Senator looking out for them - as opposed to a knee-jerk Schumer backbencher. Despite Collins being at a financial disadvantage in the race, a Bangor Daily News poll released Tuesday showed the race is a statistical dead heat, Gideon 44%-Collins 43%.



The RJC has been there for Susan Collins just as she's been there for us. Our independent expenditure featuring strong testimonials from former Senator Joe Lieberman <[link removed]> and Governors Larry Hogan <[link removed]> and Charlie Baker <[link removed]> attracted wide attention. We'll continue to do all we can to help our stalwart friend Senator Susan Collins for the next four weeks, and I encourage you to help on an individual basis too.



The RJC PAC has endorsed Susan Collins. You can help her 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











This year, the RJC is running the most advanced, sophisticated, and data-driven approach ever used to persuade and turn out Jewish voters in battleground states. Our efforts are getting results – and media attention.



• Omri Nahmias at the Jerusalem Postreports <[link removed]>: 



With less than four weeks until Election Day, both the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) are preparing for the final stretch effort, including phone banking, TV ads with celebrities, and targeted ads online.



…Matt Brooks, executive director for the RJC, told the Post that there’s no change to the coalition’s plan due to President Donald Trump’s illness. “Our plan was put in place back in 2018, and we’ve been executing it since then. We are committed to spending $10 million in our outreach efforts to the Jewish community this election,” he said.



“We have recently announced the launch of a $3.5m. TV ad buy in Florida, and we continue to execute our grassroots plan, which has already resulted in over 400,000 direct voter contacts with likely Trump supporters and persuadable Jewish voters.” He said that the RJC’s efforts are focused on critical battleground states: Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia.



“Our mail program has just been started,” he added. “We plan to mail over 500,000 pieces of mail to our target voter list in those key battleground states and, given the technological innovations that have been implemented this year, we’ve got the most sophisticated voter ID turnout operation ever in history, so we know everybody who we believe is a persuadable voter based on our voter ID calls or is a committed Trump voter.”



Brooks said that the RJC system could tell if a voter requested a vote by mail or absentee ballot and will know when that ballot has been returned. “We will know on a real-time basis if they have voted early, and so [we could] target specific messages – for instance, to the people who requested an absentee ballot but haven’t turned it in yet, who we think is the likely voter for us,” he noted.



“We’ll make sure to give them a message to remind them to turn in their ballot. If they voted early, we would know we don’t have to work on them to maximize turnout on Election Day, so we take them off the ‘Election Day, get out the vote’ effort.”



…“This is basically a 48% Democrat 48% Republican polarized electorate. So we’re working hard to win over the four or five percent of the people in the middle who are undecided,” he said. “And I remain confident that when the election is over, it will demonstrate that the president increased his share of the Jewish vote compared to 2016… there’s no question in my mind that this race is still competitive.”



• In a report <[link removed]> in the Times of Israel about the Modern Orthodox Jewish community’s voting patterns, reporter Jacob Magid writes: 



Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks said that his group is realistic in recognizing that Trump won’t be able to receive the vast majority of the Jewish vote come November. But he is confident that Trump would be able to build on the 24% of the Jewish vote that he won in 2016, asserting that crossing the 30% mark may prove key to victory in a close election.



“We don’t need a majority. [Republican Florida Governor Ron] Desantis won [the 2018 election] by less than 40,000 votes, thanks in no small part to the Jewish community,” Brooks said.



“Because we see a clear correlation between the level of one’s religious observance with the likelihood that they’ll vote Republican, Orthodox Jews are absolutely among those we’ll be targeting to come out for the president,” Brooks said.



He did not differentiate between strands of Orthodoxy, but said that the propensity of the movement’s members to live in swing states such as Florida, along with their tendency to vote in higher numbers than other subgroups, gives them outsized influence on election day.



• Our newest ads in Florida, “Deal of the Century <[link removed]>” and “Fights for Us <[link removed]>” were the subject of a JTA report this week <[link removed]>. 



• According to the New Jersey Globe <[link removed]>, a debate this week between Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ-3) and his Republican Jewish challenger David Richter included an exchange about the RJC’s television ad running in that district, which points out Kim’s record as an Obama administration official. Kim’s bad advice at that time helped ISIS rise up in Iraq.











































Comparing Trump/Pence and Biden/Harris











The last week has brought out some important differences between the Trump Administration’s record of accomplishment and what a Biden government would do.



Syndicated radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, writing at the Washington Post, offers “the short case for backing the Trump-Pence ticket and voting for Republican senators and representatives in your state. <[link removed]>” Among the reasons he touches on are: President Trump has strengthened our military forces, while reducing our military footprint abroad; he has stood up to China; and he brought unemployment to all-time lows and lowered our taxes. His argument should be shared widely.



The Trump Administration has taken more steps recently to stop Iran from pursuing its anti-Western policies. The Trump Administration is imposing new sanctions on Iran’s financial sector <[link removed]>, which will have serious effects on the mullahs’ regime. Last night, Kamala Harris reminded us that a Biden/Harris administration would take us right back into the disastrous Iran deal. The RJC praised President Trump's Iran policy and these new sanctions, here <[link removed]>.



Bryan Leib, a Jewish Voices for Trump coalition member, writes at TownHall that President Donald Trumphas delivered time and again for the Jewish community <[link removed]>. He brings up some points you might not have seen before.



President Trump’s efforts to advance Middle East bore fruit in August, with the signing of the peace agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. A report by i24 News credits those accords with accelerating other diplomatic efforts in the region, such as this one <[link removed]>: 



Israel and Jordan signed a new aviation agreement Thursday, which will allow Israeli jets to fly over the neighboring kingdom, Israeli media report.



Jordanian flights, in their turn, will be able to fly through the Israeli airspace as well under a treaty between Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority and its counterpart in Jordan.



Now let’s cross the aisle and see what a Biden/Harris administration would do.



Kamala Harrisrefused to answer the question of whether a Biden/Harris administration would try to pack the Supreme Court <[link removed]>during the debate last night, but we think the answer is “yes.” That impression was confirmed today when Joe Biden told reporters, "You'll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over <[link removed]>." What a disaster that would be for the Court and for our constitutional republic. 



We were also reminded last night of Joe Biden’s campaign promise to repeal the Trump tax cuts on Day One <[link removed]>. Those tax cuts gave the average working family a $2,000 tax break every year, as Vice President Mike Pence stated in the debate. 



FL Rep. Randy Finepoints out the reasons why Florida Jews – and all American Jews – can’t trust Joe Biden <[link removed]>. 



We can’t count on Biden to stand up for Israel. We can’t count on Biden to stand up to anti-Semites. And we can’t count on Biden to stand up for American Jews. Perhaps Biden and Kamala Harris are not anti-Semites themselves, but they have made it clear that they will not only tolerate but welcome anti-Semites with a seat at the table in their administration.



For those who imagine that Biden’s moderate image means that a Biden/Harris administration would govern moderately, don’t be fooled. Behind Joe Biden stands a phalanx of radicals who would set the policy.



Julie Strauss Levin writes about the radical agenda that Kamala Harris would pursue <[link removed]>. Harris supports a long list of radical and destructive groups and ideas, including BLM, antisemites in Congress, single payer socialized medicine, the Green New Deal, and more. This is a must-read article.



Holly Otterbein reports at Politico that “progressive” Democrats will unveil a 2021 agenda today <[link removed]>, an agenda they will pressure a Biden administration to implement. 



Known as the Working Families Party’s “People’s Charter,” the 1,000-word proposal calls for universal free health care, a jobs program employing 16 million people, retroactive hazard pay for essential employees and the reallocation of resources from policing toward education and other services. It also promotes giving the public an ownership stake in firms that receive bailouts, as well as buying out gas and oil companies, among other policies.







































Have You Seen These?











The RJC has invested in terrific ads and direct mail pieces to get our message out to persuadable Jewish voters in battleground states. You can see and SHARE all of them from the RJC web site.



See the RJC television and digital ads here <[link removed]>



See the RJC direct mail pieces here <[link removed]>



























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!







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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]>



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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 —



































Jews should condemn attacks against Amy Coney Barrett based on her faith <[link removed]>



Bethany Mandel writes that the criticism leveled against Amy Coney Barrett for her religious beliefs should be worrisome to all religious communities, including Jews. She notes that those kinds of criticism are setting what would be a dangerous precedent for antisemitic criticism against Jews seeking future confirmation before Congress.



Jewish groups should engage and push back on AOC <[link removed]>



If anyone is truly perplexed at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)’s refusal to engage with mainstream Jewish leaders, they either haven’t been paying attention or they’ve ignored AOC’s every public statement on Jews and Israel.



Trump White House brokers the (etrog) deal of the century <[link removed]>



Thanks to Avi Berkowitz, Sukkot was saved for tens of thousands of New York area Jews. Fox News reported Wednesday that Berkowitz led a successful effort to circumvent pandemic restrictions and bring to the United States 100,000 etrogs, or citrons, one of the four species traditionally waved together during the Sukkot holiday, which began last Friday evening.























































— Tweets —











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— Events —



ZOOM CALL WITH ILYA SHAPIRO

Virtual Event - October 13, 2020



RSVP <[link removed]>



ATLANTA: ZOOM CALL WITH REP. DOUG COLLINS

Virtual Event - October 13, 2020



RSVP <[link removed]>















RJC Victory Team National Days of Action



Please join us for the upcoming RJC Victory Team Virtual Days of Action on Tuesday, October 13and Thursday, October 15. We are 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]>



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.































































































































































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