Orthodox Lobbyist Friedlander Urges Jewish Vote to Turnout; Notes Electorals Help Jews

Ezra Friedlander, CEO of The Friedlander Group, a public policy consulting company not aligned with any presidential campaign or candidate, writes: One may ask and indeed many do about the impact of their vote making the argument that certainly at the Presidential level, the winner of New York’s electoral votes has already been determined. My response is that this attitude is reflective of a spoiled generation that does not and cannot appreciate what a privilege it is to vote. Although voting is a right protected by the Constitution many feel that we should abolish and modify the method in which we choose our President.

My response to that argument is that although our Founding Fathers’ intention was to protect the Southern States who did not enjoy the same size population as the Northern States, hence the allocation of electors who would represent the individual State in selecting the President; the Jewish community in the United States happen to be concentrated in several key states, thus, allowing our numbers to be more meaningful as otherwise would be.

So before we start whining about the inconsequential votes that are cast in NY or California let us step back for a moment and ask ourselves: would expressions of solidarity and support of the State of Israel by both President Obama and Governor Romney at the debate have been so prominent if Florida’s or Ohio’s electoral votes were not up in the air?

Every so often, there are those in the Jewish community that don’t always see past the surface on issues that could potentially have a detrimental impact on Jewish electoral prowess. Before we advocate to “change” a broken system, let us anticipate about the effect of what potentially could be a major game changer about the all too vaunted Jewish vote.

Therefore, I urge all my co-religionists, go out and vote, and do so feeling that every vote counts. I also urge those in Jewish leadership to please retract your call to “reform” the Electoral College system.

Read it on Gestetner Updates.