At the Jerusalem Embassy opening ceremony: 15 GOP office-holders, 0 Democrats

Ten Republican congressmen, four Republican senators, and one Republican governor flew to Jerusalem for the ceremony opening the American embassy.  There were no elected officials representing the Democratic Party.  They could have come if they had chosen to, but they either opposed the embassy move or thought they would face backlash from progressive Israel-haters who now have all the energy in the party and would go after them for supporting any Trump decision.

Joe Lieberman nailed it about the lack of elected Democrats at the event: "That's a mistake. [Alan] Dershowitz and I are representing the real Democratic Party." 

He is right.  Many of us did not leave the Democratic Party.  The party left us.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "I want to note that Democrats voted for the [Jerusalem Embassy Act] in 1995.  This has been the policy on the stump.  Every campaign fundraiser that is hosted by the pro-Israel community, every member of the Senate and the House, who cares about these issues, says 'Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.'  Now the day is here and there are only a handful of Republicans.  I'd just assume that Republicans who didn't come had conflicts, but I am disappointed that not one Democrat came.  It hurts me as someone who works across the aisle on a regular basis.  I think it was a mistake.  If just one had come it would have been a different scene."  

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): "None of us were invited.  This trip started two weeks ago when I was walking down the Senate hallway and I turned to Lindsey and said, 'Hey, in two weeks we are moving the embassy, why don't we go to Jerusalem and go there together.'  Lindsey said, 'Fantastic.  Great idea.  Let's do it,' and we put together this trip, and Dean [Heller] and Mike [Lee] both said, 'I want to be there.'  You look at the 10 House members who came, any member of Congress could have come here as part of the congressional delegation.  There was no administration invitation.  There was no one in the White House who decided who [sic] they want.  There were Senators who decided to show up.  Former Senator Joe Lieberman chose to be here.  It wasn't a formal invitation.  I'm gratified by those who came, but I am saddened.  Support for Israel should not be a partisan issue, and it's worrisome that the fallout of President Obama's Iran deal is that more and more we are seeing a divide along partisan lines.  That's not good for Israel, and it's not good for America." 

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.): "Let me assure you that Washington, DC is becoming more partisan and I don't think Israel has anything to do with that.  I've been in Washington, DC for 10 years and – maybe outside the Department of Defense – no other issue did I find to be more bipartisan.  I know that the Left probably doesn't want this president to succeed, and perhaps that's some of the reasons why they are not here.  I can't answer for them, but I can kind off [sic] see the writing on the wall on all this.  I have a hard time believing that in the future Republicans and Democrats won't come together to defend the state of Israel." 

More than three quarters of a century ago, Bob Hope captured an enduring characteristic of the Democrats:

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