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Jimmy Carter Conspicuously Absent From Podium
By Brett Lieberman and Nathan Guttman
28/08/08 "The
Forward" -- - Denver — Former president Jimmy
Carter’s controversial views on Israel cost him a place on the
podium at the Democratic Party convention in late August, senior
Democratic operatives acknowledged to the Forward.
Breaking with the tradition of giving speech time to living
former presidents, convention organizers honored Carter with
only a short video clip highlighting his work with Hurricane
Katrina victims and a brief walk across the Pepsi Center stage.
The sidelining of Carter was driven by recognition in the Obama
camp and among Democratic leaders that giving the former
president a prominent convention spot might alienate Jewish
voters.
“What more could we do to diss Jimmy Carter?” said a Democratic
official who was involved in deliberations on how to handle the
former president’s presence at the convention. The treatment
Carter received, the official added, “reflects the bare minimum
that could be done for a former president.”
Although Carter says limiting his presence at the convention was
his idea, denying him a speaking opportunity ends a two-year
struggle for the party over how to deal with the controversial
former president. Since Carter published a book in November 2006
accusing Israel of practicing apartheid against the
Palestinians, Democrats have been trying to distance themselves
from the former president and to convince Jewish activists that
he does not represent the party line.
Carter’s status at the convention was an issue for the
Democratic leadership going back to the early preparation
stages, a party official said. The solution to what one
Democratic official referred to as “the Carter problem,”
however, was not found until the final run-up to the Denver
convention.
Carter, according to party insiders, was initially scheduled to
speak at the event, though organizers insisted he focus only on
issues relating to domestic policy and not touch on foreign
affairs. During his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention in
Boston, Carter mentioned Israel, but he only touched in general
terms on the need to bring peace to the region.
As the Denver convention drew near, organizers grew uneasy with
the idea of having Carter speak even on domestic issues. In the
end, the decision was made to have what the official convention
schedule described as a “President Jimmy Carter segment,” which
included a video presentation of the former president’s work in
New Orleans. The video was followed by a brief appearance by
Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who walked across
the stage to the sound of Ray Charles’s “Georgia on My Mind.”
The assembled delegates showered Carter with applause and a
standing ovation.
Jewish Democrats approved of Carter’s limited presence at the
convention, as they have argued that embracing the former
president could tarnish the party in November.
“You can’t give him a podium, because people will draw the
conclusion” that the Democratic Party supports Carter’s views on
the Middle East, said Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York. “I
wouldn’t let him within 100 miles of the convention center,
because it would be used by an unscrupulous Republican Party
that doesn’t care about the truth in character assassination
against our candidate.”
While Carter did come to Denver, he downplayed suggestions that
he had been silenced.
In an August 26 interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
Carter said that the idea not to speak at the convention was his
own.
“Michelle spoke last night, Barack is going to speak Thursday
night and the other two nights are for the Clintons,” Carter
said. “So, I didn’t want to intrude…. I didn’t need to get on
the stage and make a speech.”
Delegates from Carter’s home state of Georgia did not seem to
take much offense at the former president not being among the
conventions’ speakers.
“I didn’t think much of it at all,” delegate Freddie Mitchell
said. “He has spoken at a number of these things in the past.”
Among some of Jewish delegates to the convention, however,
denying Carter a speech but offering him a video tribute was not
nearly sanction enough.
“He hasn’t shown respect to Israel and many of the Jewish
constituencies here based on the things he has done,” said Nan
Rich, a Florida state senator who left the hall in protest
before Carter’s appearance onstage.
Although staunch critics of Carter may not have been won over by
the Obama campaign’s sidelining of the former president, at
least one one Jewish Democratic official says the episode
reflects the degree to which the presidential hopeful is
concerned about shoring up Jewish support before November.
“I think it’s hard to ask a political party to take a former
president and say, ‘We’re not going to hear you at all,’” said
Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic
Council. “The party is very sensitive to the American Jewish
community, and it’s very sensitive to ever conveying that this
is anything but a pro-Israel party.”
And though Rich chose to protest Carter’s inclusion, she was
among the critics who appreciated the decision to minimize his
role.
“It shows the party gets it and Barack Obama’s campaign gets
it,” she said.
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