Jewish Chronicle - 2008 Pa

Nation Birthright reborn? $25M grant to keep alumni connected

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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area april 24, 2008 Nisan 19, 5768

www.pittchron.com

Vol. 48, No. 51

Strong voter turnout

$1.50

Clinton takes Jewish vote in key Pennsylvania victory BY JTA STAFF

Exit polls show that Hillary Clinton took the Jewish vote in winning the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Media outlets are projecting that Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, defeated U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. But the overall margin of victory — seen as a key factor in determining whether she fights on — is still unclear. Exit polling found that Jews made up 7 percent of the electorate, and went 57 percent to 43 percent for Clinton. While Clinton took the Jewish vote, her margin was much wider among whites overall, winning 62 percent to 38 percent. In particular, her performance among white Catholics was particularly strong, winning 71 percent to 29 percent. In recent weeks, both campaigns conducted aggressive outreach efforts aimed at Jewish voters in the state, deploying multiple high-profile surrogates, as well as the candidates themselves in some instances. Clinton had the support of several prominent Jewish politicians, most notably Gov. Ed Rendell, as well as many top donors to the Jewish Federation of Chronicle photo by Kristopher Radder

The Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill was busy as voters turned out to cast their ballots in the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh voters show up at polls in force BY JANE MUDER Chronicle Correspondent

Throughout Pennsylvania, turnout for Tuesday’s primary was strong, and that was especially true at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, where election judges and poll workers from Pittsburgh’s 14th ward estimated that at least half of all registered Democrats came out to vote. Even though Hillary Clinton won Tuesday’s Democratic primary by a large margin over Barack Obama, several voters interviewed at the JCC said they had supported Obama. “I read his books and decided he was a really good person and a fine man,” said Lynn Williams, a 59-year-old resi-

Inside

dent of the 39th precinct. “He seems to be a good politician so far, and I think he’ll make a great president.” Bob Goode, 67, also voted for Barack Obama. He characterized his chosen candidate as a man with “a very high moral vision and the ability to bring in all of the best people.” Rebecca Wassell, 22, is emblematic of many Obama supporters, who are often young adults, some of whom are participating in their first presidential election. “I have supported Barack since he was one of dozens of candidates in the race,” said Wassell. Regardless of how they voted, citizens impressed poll workers by showing up in force. At 6 p.m., the turnout

was significantly higher than the last election. “It is a huge increase [from 2007] — a five-fold increase, and there are still two hours to go,” said Nick Pasciullo, 50, of Squirrel Hill, who was the judge of elections for the 40th precinct. Melissa Jeske, the majority inspector for the 40th precinct, has been working the polls since age 18. At 6:05 p.m. Tuesday, the 27-year-old Squirrel Hill resident said, “The turnout is probably about the same [as 2004]. We haven’t hit the dinner and after-work crowd — assuming we get the dinner and afterwork crowd.” Michael Ashley-Rollman was the judge of elections for the 35th precinct. Please see Voters page 31.

Please see Clinton, page 31.

Illustrated scroll

Or L’Simcha inaugurates children’s Torah. See story, page 2.

B U S I N E S S 2 5 /C L A S S I F I E D 2 8 /C O N G R E G A T I O N S 2 2

Times To Remember

O B I T UA R I E S 3 0 /O P I N I O N 6 /R E A L E S TA T E 2 7

KINDLE SABBATH CANDLES: 7:51 p.m. DST. SABBATH ENDS: 8:54 p.m. DST.

S I M C H A S 2 1 /S T Y L E 1 6 /T O R A H 2 9