urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:efratti From Nation's Capital to Nation's Capital: The Azza Street Spy efratti efratti 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:efratti:41155 Debating the Elections in J-m 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z American Israelis have two major elections coming up:&nbsp;On Tues 4 Nov is the US Presidential election, in which voters who care have already sent off their absentee ballots, and the following Tues, 11 Nov, are Israeli&nbsp;municipal elections, in which cities elect new&nbsp;mayors and city councils.&nbsp; (As a part-time, paid&nbsp;staffer with the Nir Barkat for J-m mayor campaign, I plan to&nbsp;devote more than one post to that issue.)<br /><br />My political identity has always been that of a centrist Democrat, and not a liberal.&nbsp; However, moving from DC to J-m taught me that I&nbsp;have been&nbsp;instantly transformed into a liberal.&nbsp;&nbsp;A friend with a comedy club in downtown J-m decided that his club would&nbsp;host a political debate, Obama vs. McCain and J-m mayoral candidates.&nbsp; He tapped me as the pro-Obama and pro-Barkat representative.&nbsp;&nbsp;I consented to be on the panel but&nbsp;noted that others could definitely represent Obama better than me.&nbsp; He pointed out that&nbsp;he doesn't know anyone else in our social circle and conservative city&nbsp;who is out of the closet with their support for Obama.&nbsp; It dawned on me: He's right.&nbsp; As the outspoken Obama supporter, friends have approached me and whispered our shared position to me.&nbsp; However, these are obviously not going to be the public debaters.&nbsp; <br /><br />While I support Obama and educated myself about the candidates to reach my voting decision, my research was not comprehensive enough to enable me to publicly debate the points.&nbsp; Especially if my opponents would be any good.&nbsp; A friend suggested that I contaced Democrats Abroad for talking points and tips.&nbsp; A great idea!&nbsp; I was sent material from the WDC office of Democrats Abroad and the Israel chapter.&nbsp; I printed out at least 30 pages and had my shabbat reading set.&nbsp; In addition, the head of the Israel chapter announced my debate in the newsletter!&nbsp; It was starting to feel serious...<br /><br />I had fun and enjoyed engaging in political discourse.&nbsp; Maybe there will be another political evening: The Mayor's First 100 Days in Office.&nbsp; Maybe I'll be onstage that night offering political commentary...&nbsp; Remember, I'm the one who was voted onto her workplace's social committee without any awareness that I was running...<br /><br />Below&nbsp;is the re-cap I sent to the head of the Israel chapter, as per her request and out of gratitude for her enabling me to not look like an awkward fool.<br /><br />The turnout was quite modest (10 people; I knew half of them), but lively.&nbsp; The presidential debate lasted about an hour and J-m mayoral 20 min.&nbsp; The moderator,&nbsp;host of the comedy club,&nbsp;started out with serious questions sprinkled with jokes and ended with humorous questions (i.e., Who would you prefer as a guest at your shabbat table? Who would you rather date?)<br />&nbsp;<br />It seemed that everyone in the audience who would be voting already had.&nbsp; It also felt like a pro-McCain crowd, but overall&nbsp;politically mild.<br />&nbsp;<br />The panel consisted of four members: A J-m resident who used to work as a lawyer for the RNC, me, a right wing nut who would embarrass any thinking Republican with his drivel, and an Obama supporter who jumped out of the audience in order to even out the panel.&nbsp; While he clearly had not prepared for the debate and was not nearly as wacky as the right wing nut, he supplied nearly as many&nbsp;jokes as substantive responses.&nbsp; However,&nbsp;he did offer a clear explanation of the process of uranium enrichment and building nuclear weapons.<br />&nbsp;<br />As per the feedback from a friend in the audience, the RNC lawyer and I maintained poise, offered thoughtful, substantive replies and made our respective candidates look good.&nbsp; The moderator thanked us and said that he learned about the candidates&nbsp;due to our performance.<br />&nbsp;<br />I don't feel like anyone &quot;won&quot; the debate.&nbsp; But given the&nbsp;support McCain has in J-m and the audience in particular, I'm not sure how many were prepared to be persuaded.&nbsp; Rather, I&nbsp;believe that I succeeded in presenting&nbsp;Obama as&nbsp;worthy of office and more palatable/acceptable to those who voted McCain.&nbsp;