In Las Vegas, Jewish Republican confab weighs one more roll of the

LAS VEGAS — The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference this weekend could not have come at a better time, as far as its organizers were concerned.

“After Tuesday, do you feel pretty good about things?” Senator Lindsey Graham asked the crowd of roughly 700 attendees, evoking an eruption of cheers that filled the Venetian Resort ballroom in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

The surprise victory of the GOP’s candidate for governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, along with a wave of strong performances by other Republican candidates in last week’s elections has the party confident that these are signs of things to come, with the 2022 midterms on the horizon.

But it was the way Youngkin defeated the Democratic incumbent that grabbed the attention of many RJC members, who could be heard throughout the conference debating how best to move forward after losing both Congress and the White House in 2020.

Youngkin ran on many of former president Donald Trump’s policies but avoided having the Republican party leader join him on the campaign trail. He called for investigating unproven claims of voter fraud in the previous presidential election, while also asserting that US President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump was legitimate.

The careful dance Youngkin played with the former president — keeping Trump at an arms-length, while being sure not to anger him — is what RJC leaders are hoping to replicate in the years ahead.

Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin arrives to speak at an election night party in Chantilly, Virginia, Nov. 3, 2021, after he defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

But views on the matter appeared more divided among many of the attendees at the Vegas conference, with some happy to forget about Trump, while others were sure that his continued presence represents the key to Republican victories in 2022 and 2024.

Kissing the ring

There were a variety of takes among the conference headliners — RJC household names and rising Republican stars alike —  relating to Trump, and each of them was warmly received by the conservative crowd, indicating that there may not be one favored way of going about it.

Every speaker made a point of praising Trump’s record on Israel, namely his decisions to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

But some didn’t stop there.

“It was the greatest honor of my life, to serve as Vice President with President Donald Trump,” said Mike Pence, who was one of the more effusive speakers in his remarks about the former president.

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer argued that Trump should’ve won a Nobel Peace Prize for his administration’s brokering of the Abraham…