The Refugee had an interesting discussion with a Jewish friend (a Republican) before the election. That friend forwarded an article from the Cleveland Jewish News, that shed a great deal of light on the subject. The Refugee concluded that support of Israel is a threshold issue for American Jews. That is, if both candidates cross the threshold, then Israel is a non-issue and economic/social issues predominate (on which most Jews are overwhelmingly liberal). Obama crossed that threshold for the election, but it would be interesting to know how many Jewish voters would eventually like a Mulligan.

The Refugee asked another (non-practicing) Jewish friend if she thought Obama would militarally attack Iran if it attacked Israel. She said, "Oh, absolutely!" The Refugee wishes that he shared her confidence. However, he suspects that any response would be Clinton-like: three cruise missiles and an aspirin factory.