Saturday, February 26, 2011

Corralling the 50th Ward Ethno-Jewish Vote


At the 11th hour in last week's Chicago aldermanic election, the following letter appeared in the mailboxes of selected households in the far-North 50th ward:

Dear (name of voter):

The 50th Ward is a special place. We are blessed with beautiful Synagogues, Yeshivas, Kollels, Jewish institutions, Mikvas and Eruvin. Businesses that cater to our dietary laws and enhance our spiritual needs are plentiful. Our children go to wonderful schools and our families thrive in the friendliest and largest Jewish community in the Nidwest. Life in West Rogers Park and Peterson Park is truly a blessing and it took years of hard work and dedication to build such a wonderful environment.

For over 35 years, Alderman Berny Stone has been our community's best friend. His endless efforts helped create the wonderful community that we all take for granted. The West Rogers Park & Peterson Park Eruv, Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov Elementary School, Hannah Sachs Girls High School and numerous Shuls like Sha'arei Tzedek and Khal Chasidim, are just a small glimpse into what his hard work and dedication has brought our community.

Today, we want to acknowledge Alderman Stone's dedication to our community. He has been our voice in City Hall, our advocate in the world of politics and our greatest ally when our community needed an emissary for our spiritual well-being. Alderman Stone has stood by us and continues to every single day.

Today we recognize Alderman Bernard L. Stone as a friend to our community and to our values. Thank you, for your years of support and dedication! We look forward to continuing and strengthening this invaluable friendship for years to come.


Rabbi Moshe Katz
Rabbi Efraim Terski
Rabbi Michael Small


When I wrote a piece on this blog last year on February 7th, pointing out that the embarassing pawn broker,Scott Lee Cohen, garnered his strongest electoral support in heavily Jewish areas, due to knee jerk Jewish ethnocentric behavior, I was deluged with responses denying the fact that Jews vote as a solid bloc.


When I pointed out that Jewish voters are as reliably and predictably Democrat in their voting behavior (87% according to CNN) as Puerto Ricans and blacks, I was pilloried for voicing such inconvenient facts.

But apparently, Alderman Bernard Stone and his high-powered campaign consultants at Grainger-Terry (who also managed pawnbroker Cohen's campaign) agree with me.

They fashioned the above letter and sent it out.

And with the characteristic Stone-Grainger/Terry ineptitude, it arrived in the Golden Ghetto area mailbox of this writer, a decidedly non-Jewish, lapsed Roman Catholic with a German name to which some Yiddish names may have a similarity.

And with further crack campaign efficiency, it arrived --- the day after the election.

1 comment:

Comments invited, however anonymous commentors had better deal directly with the issues raised and avoid ad hominem drivel. As for Teachers' Union seminar writers -- forget about it.