Support candidates who unite, not divide

By Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison
Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO –As I weigh the rhetoric of the U.S. presidential election, I find that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left understand that Americans who grew up on the notion that “the United States is the greatest country in the world” have become disillusioned. Not since World War II has the United States won a major war, and for many years now, the American economy is being outpaced and outsourced. Sanders, Cruz and Trump are responding with the same solution: Find scapegoats.

In Trump’s case, he points to Mexicans and Muslims, wanting to keep both groups of people out of the United States. Cruz has mainly focused on Muslims: suggesting that police should put their communities under surveillance. In Sanders’ case, he had blamed Wall Street, the 1 percent of Americans who rank among the super-rich, and increasingly, Israel. Because Sanders is a fellow Jew, his find-someone-to-blame tactics are particularly disappointing. From the experiences of relatives who remained in Europe, he knows the potential consequences of pointing fingers at entire classes of people.

Finding scapegoats is a very old tactic in politics. To some degree it has happened in every country–and the favorite scapegoat of all was the Jews. Think of Alfred Dreyfus in France, all the Jews who came under the control of Nazi Germany, and the Jewish doctors of Stalin’s Soviet Union. So it is not surprising that Jews who believe in tikkun olam — repairing the world — have become increasingly uncomfortable with Trump, Cruz and Sanders.

That’s why Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner in the Democratic race, and John Kasich, who trails badly in the Republican race, deserve consideration from the Jewish community, notwithstanding those candidates’ other flaws. (Who among us, much less among the candidates is perfect?) Clinton’s rhetoric very purposely tries to unite us, rather than to divide us. She speaks of building bridges instead of walls. Kasich, though not a particularly quotable speaker, offers us his practical experience in developing bipartisan coalitions, which long has been lacking in Washington D.C.

I believe we should vote for candidates who appeal to the best of our instincts, not to the worst of them. For Democrats, that’s Clinton. For Republicans, Kasich. For independents, either of the above.

*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com.  Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)