Obama works to rally Jewish support

Though Sen. Barack Obama drew a warm reception from Israeli leaders Wednesday, the likely Democratic presidential nominee has yet to fire up many Jews back home.

Obama is comfortably ahead of Republican John McCain in polls among Jewish voters. But he is running more than 10 points behind where Democratic nominee John F. Kerry was in 2004, according to several recent polls. He is nearly 20 points behind where Bill Clinton finished in 1992.

His supporters are hoping the photo ops in Jerusalem and elsewhere can help garner more support from a group that, although it represents just 4% of the electorate, could be critical this fall in close states such as Florida.

"Let's face it, there's been some skepticism to overcome," said Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Obama ally helping his outreach in the Jewish community. "But we're certainly not going to leave any stone unturned."

Obama's critics have sought for months to raise doubts about his support for Israel.

Since saying last year that he would sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions, Obama has had to parry charges that he would appease a country many see as Israel's most dangerous threat.

And he has faced criticism that some of his most prominent supporters, such as former President Carter, are not pro-Israel. Carter outraged many Israelis this year by meeting with leaders of the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., was an outspoken supporter of Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan, whose views are widely seen as anti-Semitic. Obama severed his ties with Wright this spring.

"You really have to worry," said Morris Amitay, a McCain supporter and former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, ticking off Obama's associations.

On Wednesday, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, a McCain supporter heading his outreach among Jewish voters, predicted that Obama's position on Israel would help McCain approach Ronald Reagan's 1980 success, winning 39% of the Jewish vote. "The uptick already is impressive," Cantor said.

A Gallup Poll in June showed Obama leading McCain among Jewish voters, 62% to 29%. In comparison, every Democratic presidential nominee since 1992 has won at least three-quarters of the Jewish vote.

To counter the criticism, Obama has been carefully stressing his commitment to protecting Israel.