To longtime Republicans Herb Swarzman and Betty Sembler, the security of Israel is of greater importance than a candidate's religion in deciding how to vote for president. (Photo by James Stem)

CAMPAIGN 2000 Lieberman Candidacy Doesn't Shake Party Loyalty of GOP's Jews By MILES BENSON c.2000 Newhouse News Service

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- When Al Gore picked Joe Lieberman as his running mate, Republican Barry Shapiro's Jewish mother called him from Brooklyn.

She assumed her son at last might be ready to switch loyalties and vote Democratic, the party of the household that raised him.

"No," said Shapiro, a chiropractor. "I'm not voting for a religion. I think that's a bad way to make our decisions when we vote."

Sure, Shapiro said, he felt pride and "a very warm spot in my heart" when Gore chose Lieberman, the Jewish senator from Connecticut. But Shapiro is sticking with his candidates, Republican George W. Bush and running mate Dick Cheney.

And so Shapiro was on hand to enthusiastically applaud Bush as the Texas governor made a recent trip through Florida, a crucial swing state where 6 percent of the electorate is Jewish, a group that traditionally votes in large numbers, magnifying their impact in close races.

Jewish voters tend to favor Democratic presidential candidates in ordinary circumstances. With history's first Jewish vice presidential nominee on his ticket, Al Gore's support among Jews is expected to go through the roof on Election Day. But it won't be 100 percent.

Some Jewish Republicans remain committed to Bush and Cheney. They agree with their political views about less government and lower taxes, believe the pair will be stronger defenders of Israel's security, or both.

"The question that has to be asked is, who is better to protect Israel?" said Ned Siegel, a Boca Raton real estate developer.

Siegel believes the answer is Bush. For example, Siegel said, he is convinced that Bush, as president, would quickly move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a specific desire of Israeli and American Jews alike.

Some Jewish Republicans say they are taking flak from friends and relatives for not swinging behind the Gore-Lieberman ticket.

"Everybody has their own test of loyalty," Siegel observed. "People say, `How can you call yourself a Jew and not support Lieberman?' Passions run high. "I'm as happy as anyone else that Lieberman was nominated for vice president. But I'm voting for a president, not a vice president. We'd all have a bigger dilemma if Lieberman was running for president."

Some worry that Jews are too closely identified with the Democratic Party.

"I don't think it's a good thing for all the Jewish people to be in one party or the other," said Peter Sachs, a Boca Raton attorney. "If we are all in one party, there is a tendency to take people for granted."

Herb Swarzman, a Tampa real estate agent, said he has great respect for Lieberman, but "it's not a reason why those of us with other political beliefs need to run and vote for him, just because he's Jewish. It doesn't help us if Jews were to desert the Republican ticket just because Lieberman is on the Democratic ticket."

Bush backer John Kislak, a Miami banker, hailed Lieberman's nomination as "a great day for Jews" because it meant that professional politicians "believe anti-Semitism is gone in this country."

But Kislak finds "mildly offensive" the idea that he might vote for somebody "just because he is a Jew, the same as I'd find it offensive to vote for somebody because they were Hispanic or black or any other such characteristic."

Stanley Tate, a Dade County developer, said he was "pleased, proud and happy that a perceived barrier was eliminated" with Lieberman's nomination -- but he's voting Republican.

"You must vote for the individual who best represents what you want to see achieved in a presidency," Tate said.

"I believe strongly in lower taxes, because it stimulates the economy, and I believe in less government rather than more, and I believe that education and health care are better handled by states than by the federal government, where it would cost considerably more and be done with far less efficiency." Tate said he also prefers Bush's proposals for school vouchers and Social Security reform.

Bush and his wife, Laura, traveled to Israel in 1998 with Betty Sembler and her husband, Mel, a former U.S. ambassador to Australia who is now finance chairman for the Republican National Committee.

It was a deeply spiritual experience, said Betty Sembler, and Bush's commitment to Israel is genuine. "I watched his heart and I watched his head,and he knew what he was looking at," she said.

Betty Sembler approves of Lieberman. She thinks his nomination marks a "coming of age" for Jews in American politics.

But when it comes to picking a president, she said, "I have a different standard. I'm an American first and foremost. I'm a Jew second, and I'm a Republican third."

Republican strategists concede that they will lose the Jewish vote heavily.

"Reagan did well in the Jewish community (about 40 percent), but we really haven't done well since then," said Bush adviser Charles Black, who agreed that Lieberman's role will push support for the Democratic ticket even higher. And Republican pollster Frank Luntz noted that "this will be the third election in a row when Democrats will exceed this traditional Jewish vote."

In Florida, Republicans are hoping to hold the votes of Jews like Leonard Kleinman, a Tampa attorney, who voted for Bob Dole in 1992. But Kleinman is undecided.

"I have a lot of respect for the Bush family," Kleinman said. "On the other hand, I have to look where the interests of Israel will be better served, and I haven't made up my mind on that yet."

It's a complicated calculation in the Jewish community, Kleinman said.

"A number of questions come into play. Would Gore and Lieberman be perceived as being elected by Jews and therefore bend over backwards on Middle East policy to avoid being seen as captured by the Jewish vote? The buzz goes both ways," he said.

"I think a lot of Republican Jews will cross over and vote for the Lieberman-Gore ticket. On the other hand, a lot of Democratic Jews are not sure America is ready for a Jew to be in that position and will vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket to avoid backlash prejudice."

Why do Jewish voters generally prefer Democratic candidates?

"I go to sleep at night and I wonder the same thing," said Swarzman. "I think Jews are uninformed and don't worry as much about Israel as they used to."