Its welcome reception, featuring Kemp and San Diego Mayor and Jewish Republican Susan Golding, also boasted California Governor Pete Wilson. Later in the week, the NJC hosted a salute to the Republican Congress. In a week punctuated by an overall Republican effort to present a united front to the rest of the world, without the rancor and divisiveness which had characterized pre-convention machinations, about the only piece of hard news was the ascendence of a small band of Jewish Republicans onto the national scene. And within the ranks of Jewish Republicans, the rosy glow of the pomp, circumstance and taste of power which was theirs during the convention seems to have quieted, for the time being, the debates over alliances with right wing groups such as the Christian Coalition. They have adopted the overall party approach, that internal differences will not play well to the public.
Unity is key.
Whether or not the unified front can be maintained is a question which will be addressed in the upcoming months as the campaign begins to heat up. This is a message that will ring true across America and among American Jews. Regardless of the outcome of November's election, the clout of National Jewish Coalition will continue to increase, making it a major force on the Jewish and national political scene. Given an added boost by its close ties with the Likkud government of Binyamin Netanyahu, the NJC's prestige will grow, even in a Democratic presidential administration. Ann Moline is a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C. area.