Republican party advertisements linking Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and anti-American demonstrators are being used to sway voters but have met with vehement opposition from Democrats. Sen. Obama has the backing of nearly two-thirds of Jewish voters, according to most polls.
One advertisement uses images of Iranians burning the American flag alongside Ahmadinejad and under the headline that Sen. Obama's position on Iran is "naïve and dangerous."
Another advertisement shows the Democratic candidate speaking in Germany last July. Democratic Congressman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida Democrat called the ad "disgusting." She charged, "It's clearly an effort to sow seeds of doubt" by trying to link him with the Nazi era and the Holocaust. "Voters in the Jewish community are a lot smarter than that."
Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, accused her of making "a monumental stretch" in her conclusion and maintained that the picture in Germany was used because the party "couldn't find a good picture." He maintained that the mention of Germany was necessary because "it's important for people to know where we got the image."
Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council went on the offensive against the Republican party and again brought up the issue of vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin's attendance at a speech by a Jews for Jesus preacher and her wearing a Pat Buchanan campaign button.
Buchanan, widely disliked by Jews, has said that Gov. Palin had been a fundraiser for his campaign, but no records of fundraising have been found.
The Republican Jewish Coalition countered with an advertisement showing Buchanan reminding voters that he stated, "I think Barack is right; we ought to talk to the Iranians." Sen. Obama has since backtracked on the remark.