Rona Kaufman, a law professor at Duquesne University and a past Obama volunteer, has decided to vote Republican for the first time next month, most notably for Dave McCormick, who is running to unseat 17-year incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
"For the first time the Republican perspective is appealing to me. They are coming out strong for Israel," she said in an interview with the New York Post.
Kaufman, who identifies as both a feminist and a Zionist, cannot fathom the Democratic Party's tolerance of people like Pittsburgh's freshman congresswoman Summer Lee.
Lee has pushed for an arms embargo against Israel and accused the country of committing genocide. "The genocide claim has been leveled against Israel for a decade. It's a lie to justify destroying Israel," Kaufman stated to Townhall.
Feeling betrayed
Feeling betrayed by the party she once trusted as a strong supporter of Israel, Kaufman remarked, "Having had a romantic relationship with the Democratic Party, I feel like they've cheated on me, and I'm so upset, and I feel like they've pushed me into the arms of this other party that is a rebound," she added with a laugh. She lamented, "It's almost like I've been completely betrayed by somebody I cared for. And I don't think that's an uncommon sentiment."
Her disillusionment intensified after the Israel-Hamas war, which she believes has divided the Democratic Party. "You cannot make peace with people who've come to kill you," Kaufman said, adding, "The Democratic perspective at its core is still based in that flawed view," she explained to Townhall.
Kaufman's daughter, Naomi Kitchen, served in a search-and-rescue unit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the latest war in Gaza. Kaufman has visited Naomi twice in northern Israel since the October 7 massacre, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing, kidnapping, and raping more than 1,400 people, including more than 40 Americans.
She shared how her daughter's experiences hardened her views. "The men threatened to rape her all the time. That's the greeting she encountered," Kaufman said, referring to her daughter as a woman carrying a gun. Reflecting on the atrocities, she stated, "Our people will be safe. Our women will not be raped. And October 7 broke that."
Kaufman criticized figures within the Democratic Party who have been critical of Israel. She wishes that leaders like Bob Casey and Vice President Kamala Harris would call out anti-Israel and antisemitic Democratic politicians and voters, which she worries represent the party's future. "Why would the Democratic Party allow itself to be degraded?" she questioned during her interview with the New York Post.
Her disappointment extends to Kamala Harris's choice of Ilan Goldenberg as her Jewish community liaison. "He's not at all representative of mainstream Jewry. His views are wrong," Kaufman asserted in Townhall. She feels that the messaging from Democratic leaders has been inadequate. "They ripped open such a historic wound in the Jewish psyche. Even if people get killed, that is why our response is so absolutely necessary. If you attack our women and children, you should expect retribution," she declared.
Despite her frustrations, Kaufman admires Pennsylvania's other Democratic senator, John Fetterman, who's renounced the "progressive" label and supports unconditional military aid for Israel. "I wish others would follow his lead. He demonstrates moral clarity and integrity," she said in New York Post.
Turning her support to Dave McCormick, Kaufman found moral clarity in his stance on Israel. McCormick slammed Bob Casey in an op-ed for failing to get a vote on his bill cracking down on campus antisemitism and not rescinding his endorsement of Summer Lee after 40 Pittsburgh Jewish leaders denounced her anti-Israel rhetoric.
Kaufman met McCormick at a neighborhood vigil for the hostages still imprisoned by Hamas. She admired his military service in the first Gulf War in Iraq. "I like him and I like his story and I like his wife's story," she said. Dina Powell McCormick, a Coptic Christian from Cairo, served as deputy national security adviser and helped draft the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and some Arab nations.
"A Coptic Christian in the Middle East understands the threat of Islamism," Kaufman observed. "That's someone whose worldview I feel I can really count on." The McCormicks traveled to a kibbutz after October 7 and met with families of Hamas-held hostages, further impressing Kaufman.
Her family's history deeply influences her perspective. Kaufman's grandparents fled Poland after the Holocaust and found refuge in Israel, a fledgling state fighting for its existence in 1948. Her father was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces in the 1970s before coming to America. She once believed dialogue could achieve peace in the Middle East but now says, "Peace through strength."
Kaufman's shift represents a broader sentiment among some Jewish Democrats who feel alienated by their party's stance on Israel amidst the ongoing conflict. "It's almost like I've been completely betrayed by somebody I cared for," she reflected. As she prepares to cast her vote for Republican candidates, including James Hayes, who is running to unseat Summer Lee, Kaufman embodies a significant moment of political realignment prompted by deep-seated convictions and personal experiences.