For the Republican Party, a tough job just got a little tougher thanks to Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Trump - the front-runner among Republicans seeking their party's nomination ahead of the presidential election in November 2016 - called for prohibiting Muslims, including immigrants, students, and tourists, from entering the United States in the wake of the shootings in California by two Muslim radicals that killed 14.
While U.S. security officials worried Trump's remarks would damage efforts to combat global terrorism worldwide, Republicans had a secondary concern: whether Trump's talk would further drive Jewish-American voters toward the Democratic Party.
Four years later, the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, attempted to drive a wedge between those voters and Obama by attacking the administration's policies in the Middle East and suggesting he would be a more loyal partner to Israel and its conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
