Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The Promise and Burden of a Black Presidency
By Raphael Sonenshein
Barack Obama is suffering from an enthusiasm gap among African American voters. A recent survey by the political Web site Daily Kos found that 68 . . .
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Obama and Health Care: From the House to the Senate
By Raphael Sonenshein
Almost exactly one year after the historic election that brought Barack Obama to the White House, the House of Representatives passed a health care . . .
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Jewish Voters, Obama and Health Care: Trouble Ahead?
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
The latest Gallup poll indicates that in September, President Obama’s approval rating held steady at 52 percent. He has dropped from the . . .
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Promised Land
By Raphael Sonenshein
The struggle to pass health care reform has everything to do with the creation of a new Democratic party that can exercise power on a national basis. . . .
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Q&A with Karen Bass: Life in the Hot Seat
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Political analyst and Jewish Journal columnist Raphael Sonenshein interviewed California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass at the Jewish Journal offices on . . .
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Deal-making Behind Byzantine Ballot Measures
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
May 19, California voters will be asked to vote on a package of six ballot measures. What’s a voter to do? What’s a Jewish voter to . . .
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
5th District Plays Big Role
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
The Los Angeles elections on March 3 turned out to be more interesting than most of us had expected, especially the role of the Fifth Council . . .
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Jews Have Seats at Obama’s Head Table
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Other than African Americans, no group of voters provided more support to Barack Obama than . . .
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Day at the beach—Omaha Beach
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
June 6, 1944, may have been the most important day of the 20th century. The Allied invasion of France breached Hitler's Atlantic Wall and decisively . . .
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Hope breeds strength
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
The French now understand that Obama's election will set off a long overdue debate about the status of minority communities within their own nation. . . .
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
With the Republican base on the ropes, all eyes are on Florida —again
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
It is already ugly out on the campaign trail, and reporters in the field are feeling the heat of the rising anger of a Republican base on the . . .
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Being an African American candidate is different
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
An African American candidacy is different. Obama can't easily be the racial middleman as Clinton was. And being aggressive carries its own special . . .
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The L.A. Times ‘frames’ the Presidential race
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
This assertion, which is totally irrelevant to the campaign of 2008, leads to a source saying that McCain would definitely not represent the third . . .
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Jewish Vote: Bush, Israel and Iran
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Leaks from Vice President Dick Cheney's office indicate that the veep does not favor an Israeli attack, only because Israel lacks sufficient force to . . .
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Will Jews give Obama a chance?
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Obama needs to tell his story about the Jewish community and Israel before his opponents tell their version. If he waits to respond to Clinton's . . .
Thursday, January 31, 2008
And now the ‘Jewish primary’ begins . . .
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
When California moved its presidential primary to Feb. 5, and other big states followed suit, the strategic role of Jewish voters in the nominating . . .
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The NIE, Iran, presidential politics and the Jews
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
The release last week of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear ambitions stunned the nation's capital. After being buried for a . . .
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Henry Waxman: The Democrats’ Eliot Ness
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
In fact, Congressman Henry Waxman already did more oversight while in the minority than many Democrats have been able to accomplish with the . . .
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Islamofascism and the GOP
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Republicans are now telling us that America (and Israel) face a mortal threat from "global Islamofascism." Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Vt.) has been . . .
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Bush’s ‘neocons’: far from the best and the brightest
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Today's neocons are far from the best and the brightest. They are largely amateur armchair warriors given to cheap rhetoric and bombast. They toss . . .
Thursday, June 7, 2007
City of L.A. Report Card: Mayor Villagairosa and the Jewish community at midterm
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Antonio Villaraigosa is coming up to halftime in his first term as mayor of Los Angeles. This is as good a time as any to assess the direction of his . . .
Thursday, May 10, 2007
How will GOP fare with Jewish voters in ‘08?
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
With California's early primary bringing unusual recognition to the Golden State, the Republican candidates are heading out West. They met in debate . . .
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Iran nuclear threat: What to do?
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
As the wild ride known as the Bush Administration careens toward its end, the only question remaining is whether the president will order an attack . . .
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Key Jewish California lawmakers return to powerful roles in new Congress
By Raphael J. Sonenshein
When the Republicans are in power in Washington, the Jewish political world is usually on the outside looking in, except in matters regarding Israel. . . .
