Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Secret Behind a Rocker’s Election to Congress: Hasidim
Rep. John Hall has plenty of supporters to thank for his transformation from rocker to congressman. But his most important — and seemingly most unlikely — backer may have been Abraham Wieder, mayor of Kiryas Joel, an insular Hasidic enclave in New York’s Orange County.
Hall first gained a degree of fame as a founding member of the rock band Orleans, best known for the catchy and kitschy ’70s hit “Still The One.” He posed topless with his four shirtless band mates for the cover of their best-known album. Now he is one of the most liberal Democrats in the new class of congressional freshmen.
Wieder, on the other hand, wears the traditional garb of a Satmar Hasid — black hat, black coat and a yarmulke. He is a registered Republican.
Despite such differences, Wieder can reasonably claim that he was singularly responsible for Hall’s narrow 4,760-vote upset of six-term Republican congresswoman Sue Kelly. There aren’t many towns whose partisan affiliation swung as much from 2004 to 2006 as Kiryas Joel’s did. Two years ago, voters in the village cast a remarkable 92% of their ballots for President Bush and 67% for Kelly. Had Kelly performed as well in Kiryas Joel this time around, she would have won reelection. This past November, however, Hall won 88% of the village’s votes.
What changed? This time around Wieder decided to back the Democrat.
Kiryas Joel, home to some 18,000 individuals, members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, is one of the few communities left where the local leaders’ endorsements matter — each election the village gives the vast majority of its votes to a single candidate. Thus Wieder’s endorsement carries the same weight as the larger-than-life party bosses of generations past.
“The rabbis basically hand out pieces of paper and tell people how to vote,” said Hall’s spokesman, Tom Staudter. “They have a history of wanting to vote with winners. In close campaigns, they hold out to the end to see which way the wind is blowing.”
http://www.forward.com/articles/the-secret-behind-a-rocker-s-election-to-congres/
Rep. John Hall has plenty of supporters to thank for his transformation from rocker to congressman. But his most important — and seemingly most unlikely — backer may have been Abraham Wieder, mayor of Kiryas Joel, an insular Hasidic enclave in New York’s Orange County.
Hall first gained a degree of fame as a founding member of the rock band Orleans, best known for the catchy and kitschy ’70s hit “Still The One.” He posed topless with his four shirtless band mates for the cover of their best-known album. Now he is one of the most liberal Democrats in the new class of congressional freshmen.
Wieder, on the other hand, wears the traditional garb of a Satmar Hasid — black hat, black coat and a yarmulke. He is a registered Republican.
Despite such differences, Wieder can reasonably claim that he was singularly responsible for Hall’s narrow 4,760-vote upset of six-term Republican congresswoman Sue Kelly. There aren’t many towns whose partisan affiliation swung as much from 2004 to 2006 as Kiryas Joel’s did. Two years ago, voters in the village cast a remarkable 92% of their ballots for President Bush and 67% for Kelly. Had Kelly performed as well in Kiryas Joel this time around, she would have won reelection. This past November, however, Hall won 88% of the village’s votes.
What changed? This time around Wieder decided to back the Democrat.
Kiryas Joel, home to some 18,000 individuals, members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, is one of the few communities left where the local leaders’ endorsements matter — each election the village gives the vast majority of its votes to a single candidate. Thus Wieder’s endorsement carries the same weight as the larger-than-life party bosses of generations past.
“The rabbis basically hand out pieces of paper and tell people how to vote,” said Hall’s spokesman, Tom Staudter. “They have a history of wanting to vote with winners. In close campaigns, they hold out to the end to see which way the wind is blowing.”
http://www.forward.com/articles/the-secret-behind-a-rocker-s-election-to-congres/
Comments:
ok, its an old post by now, but I found this hilarious:
"Kiryas Joel, home to some 18,000 individuals"
Thats a joke, right?
Post a Comment
"Kiryas Joel, home to some 18,000 individuals"
Thats a joke, right?
