According to Agence France Presse (AFP), "President Barack Obama was the one who on Wednesday ordered his Democratic party to reinsert references to G-d and Jerusalem in their party platform, AFP reported.
"The report hinted that the move was not too pleasing to party members.
"A campaign official told AFP that the president, who has been hammered by Republicans who see him as too tough on Israel, personally intervened to have language on Jerusalem, a feature of past party platforms, restored. "
The AFP article also noted that when the delegates were asked to vote to include G-d and Jerusalem, the "nays" (against inclusion) appeared to match the "ayes."
See the CNN video at http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/09/05/delegates-oppose-adding-god-jerusalem-platform/; there is a 30-second commercial to ignore before the vote video commences.
Now comes the interesting part.
Who is in chair of the DNC?
A person who claims, on her government Web site biography, to be the "The first Jewish Congresswoman ever elected from Florida," Representative Debbie Wassermann-Schultz.
Rep. Wasserman-Schultz' claim to Jewish fame is that she "introduced a resolution, which passed the House of Representatives and called on the President to declare an annual Jewish American Heritage Month."
Rep. Wasserman-Schultz seems - based on her response to constituents' appeals for assistance regarding Israel issues - to limit herself to introducing non-essential resolutions in Congress. When asked to help a local family cut bureaucratic red tape to allow the family's son-in-law to join his American bride, she ignored the appeal.
Congressman Allen West, the Republican in the adjacent congressional district, did manage to cut through the State Department's continuing anti-Jewish and anti-Israel delaying tactics.
Given her apparent unwillingness to touch anything "Israel" and the absence of both G-d and Jerusalem in the DNC platform, it's no surprise that Obama had to insist on inserting the changes.
But one has to suspect that Obama only is giving lip service to the Jerusalem plank since on July 26, 2012, White House press secretary Jay Carney repeatedly refused to answer journalists' demands to know if Obama felt Jerusalem should be recognized by the US as Israel's capital. (See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/07/26/whs_carney_refuses_to_name_the_capital_of_israel.html.)
According to Democratic National Convention Chairman and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the measure to add G-d and Jerusalem as Israel's capital to the party platform requires a two-third affirmative vote.
Villaraigosa called for a voice vote not once, not twice, but three times and each time it seemed that the delegates were equally split. Villaraigosa, declared the motion passed anyway. (See the CNN video, link in fifth paragraph, above.)
From a Jewish perspective, from an Israeli perspective, the initial lack of inclusion of G-d and Jerusalem-as-Israel's-capital, coupled with the Obama spokesman's refusal to answer journalists' questions regarding Jerusalem as Israel's capital would indicate that, if Obama is re-elected, he will continue to distance himself from Israel while continuing to cozy up to Israel's sworn enemies. Another four years of Obama does not bode well for Israel or for Jews, at least observant Jews.
Admittedly, we should not be "one-issue" voters and social concerns need to be considered.
The Democrats contend that if Romney moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Medicare will go away and women's rights will be violated.
Unless something is done soon, Medicare WILL go away; what the GOP is proposing is a change in Medicare that will impact people LESS THAN 55 years old. They won't loose Medicare, it just will be a different approach.
As for cancelling Roe vs. Wade, that is not an executive branch option; that is a matter for Congress and the Supremes. Indeed, domestically, there is not much the executive branch CAN do.
As far as Jerusalem-as-Israel's-capital goes, the best thing ANY president can do is to follow the 1995 Congressional mandate to MOVE THE EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM.
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Embassy_Act:
The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999, and attempted to withhold 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the State Department specifically for ‘‘Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad’’ as allocated in fiscal year 1999 until the United States Embassy in Jerusalem had officially opened
