Not helped shape the US election. They “shaped” everything according to this piece. — Ed.
Following is the list, in alphabetical order:
Sheldon Adelson: He is Republican, neoconservative and amega-donor, however, a combination of financial reverses and internaldisputes has muted his contribution to the McCain effort.
David Axelrod: Chief strategist and media advisor for the Obamacampaign, he has harnessed grassroots support through “viral” media,new technology and emphasis on the theme of change.
Steven Bob and Sam Gordon: The two Reform rabbis from the Chicagoarea founded Rabbis for Obama, which has persuaded hundreds ofrabbinical colleagues to go on record by name supporting the candidate.The group’s influence on the Jewish electorate has been difficult togauge.
Matt Brooks: The executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition is a frequent media “first responder” on Jewish issues.
Mark Broxmeyer: A businessman and chair of the JewishInstitute for National Security Affairs conservative think tank,Broxmeyer serves as national chairman of the McCain campaign’s JewishAdvisory Coalition and as a member of the candidate’s national financecommittee.
Eric Cantor: This Virginia congressman, the sole Jewish Republicanin the House, has emerged as a primary McCain surrogate in a bid tosway Florida and his home state.
Laurie David: The global-warming activist and producer of “AnInconvenient Truth,” starring Al Gore, she is ex-wife of “Seinfeld” and”Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator Larry David and one of JewishHollywood’s most prodigious fundraisers.
Ira Forman: The executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, he is Matt Brooks’ counterpart.
Barney Frank: The Massachusetts Democratic congressman is one ofthe most visible, outspoken liberals in the House. He is openly gay anda frequent target of pro-McCain commentators, particularly on Fox News,where, because of his role as chair of the House Financial ServicesCommittee, he has been said to bear crucial responsibility for thesub-prime lending crisis. He played a key role in negotiating the WallStreet bailout package.
Malcolm Hoenlein: Formally nonpartisan as professional chief of theConference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, heinvited Sarah Palin to speak at an anti-Ahmadinejad rally at the UN,then bowed to pressure to rescind the invitation. He is seen to haveaided the McCain campaign in terms of some Jewish undecideds.
Cheryl Jacobs: A McCain campaign co-chair in Broward County,Florida, the Conservative rabbi, a longtime Democrat, supported HillaryClinton’s primary race for president, but then switched to McCain.
Henry Kissinger: The New York Times calls the former secretary ofstate a “close outside adviser” to McCain’s campaign. He is regularlycalled upon by the candidate for advice on foreign affairs, and held ahigh-profile briefing session with Palin prior to the vice-presidentialdebate.
Ed Koch: The former New York City mayor is still a gold standardfor Jews of a certain age. He backed Bush in 2004 and Hillary Clintonduring the primaries. Now he’s for Obama.
William Kristol: As editor of Rupert Murdoch’s Weekly Standardmagazine, a New York Times columnist and a Fox News commentator, he isan extremely influential neoconservative voice.
Sherry Lansing: The first woman to head a major Hollywood studio (Paramount), she is a major Democratic donor and fundraiser.
Ed Lasky: Through the American Thinker Web site, his articleshelped spawn the widespread Internet campaign alleging that Obama isanti-Israel.
Henry Lehman: A Bavarian immigrant who settled in Alabama in 1844at age 23, and founded H. Lehman, a general store that, by acceptingraw cotton in lieu of cash, would later lead to commodity trading incotton. In 1850, he and his brothers Emanuel and Mayer formed LehmanBrothers, which became one of the first and most powerful investmenthouses on Wall Street. Lehman Brothers’ spectacular collapse inmid-September, the largest bankruptcy in American history, triggered aworldwide financial panic that, more than any single factor, maydetermine the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.
Joe Lieberman: The Connecticut senator was Al Gore’s 2000Democratic running mate. He is now McCain’s point man for undecidedJewish voters.
Mik Moore and Ari Wallach: Launched Jewsvote.org, utilizinghigh-tech methods to counteract Web-borne attacks on Obama. The groupalso sponsors The Great Schlep – a campaign to get grandchildren tovisit grandparents in Florida, to persuade them to vote for Obama.
Eli Pariser: He heads MoveOn.org, a liberal on-line advocacy group that has raised large sums for Democratic candidates.
Martin Peretz: The editor of The New Republic, he wrote aninfluential article entitled “Can friends of Israel – and Jews – trustObama? In a word, Yes.”
Dennis Prager: He is an influential, outspoken and often stridentnationally syndicated radio talk-show host. Despite reservations overMcCain’s campaign reform bill, he has thrown his weight behind the GOPticket.
Penny Pritzker: She is the national finance chair of the Obamacampaign. A billionaire executive, pioneer Obama supporter and scion ofa well-known Jewish mega-donor family, she has taken flak over thedegree of her involvement in a the failure of a bank driven bysub-prime mortgages.
Ed Rendell: The governor of the key swing state of Pennsylvania, heis former head of the Democratic National Committee and a topDemocratic campaign spokesman.
Denise Rich: The socialite and ex-wife of disgraced billionaire Marc Rich is a Democratic megafundraiser.
Dennis Ross and Dan Kurtzer: They are the center-right and center-left anchors of Obama’s Middle East advisory staff.
Robert Rubin: The top Obama economics advisor has unsurpassedknowledge of the workings of Wall Street and was treasury secretary inthe Clinton administration.
Dan Shapiro: A former Clinton administration National SecurityCouncil official, he is a senior Mideast policy advisor and Jewishoutreach coordinator for the Obama campaign. He is said to haveco-written Obama’s speech before AIPAC (the pro-Israel lobby), in whichthe candidate declared “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel andit must remain undivided” – a statement Obama later partially recanted.
Sarah Silverman: A “shock comedian,” she served as videospokeswoman for The Great Schlep (see Mik Moore, above). Her monologuespawned a counter-clip from veteran comic Jackie Mason.
Alan Solow: The Chicago lawyer is active in the Jewish communityand in the Conference of Presidents. He has been an Obama supporter fora dozen years.
Jon Stewart: As host of the satirical TV news program “The DailyShow,” he has become perhaps the most listened-to liberal voice in thenation. The New York Times called Stewart’s program “a genuine culturaland political force.”
Barbra Streisand: The superstar singer is a Jewish-liberal icon andmega-fundraiser. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in the primary race andhas backed Obama since the Democratic convention. She also headlined aHollywood fundraiser in September, which included a $25,800-a-platedinner.
Robert Wexler: A key Obama surrogate, the Florida congressman hascampaigned extensively in the effort to shift the electoral vote-richSunshine State from the McCain column to the Democrats.
Fred Zeidman: McCain’s lead Jewish strategist, he is chairman ofthe U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, and a heavyweight among JewishRepublicans.