@akuperma: Your statement is shocking. How can you compare someone who is JEWISH (i.e. Jewish MOTHER, not necessarily father) to someone who has “Jewish ancestors going back to ancient times” or “has a Jewish surname”!?
“Just because someone is halachically Jewish . . it is silly to consider . . to be Jewish”
How dare you call people who halacha (thus also Torah and Hashem) considers Jewish to not be Jewish?
You are obligated be מחלל שבת to save the life of such a Jew (unless he is ישראל מומר להכעיס which is very uncommon).
Every halachic Jew is infinitely dear to Hashem, and even more than the Torah itself (see: תנא דבי אליהו פי”ד. קהלת רבה א, ד. בראשית רבה א, ד. ועוד).
Even a מומר לעבודה זרה ר”ל is considered one of Hashem’s children (see שו”ת הרשב”א ח”א סקצ”ד). How much more so regular פושעי ישראל, which are מלאין מצוות כרימון (see חגיגה כז,א. עירובין יט,א).
How much more so most non-frum people of today who are תינוקות שנשבו whose lack of Yiddishkeit is completely אונס (if someone is too sick to put on tefillin, would you consider him non-Jewish!?) – רמב”ם הלכות ממרים פ”ג ה”ג.
The דין of תינוק שנשבה seems to apply even to someone who grew up with a Jewish education, yet it wasn’t strong enough to keep him in the fold due to the various challenges nowadays which didn’t exist in the past (see Rebbe Rayatz אגרות קודש ח”ב ע’ תקכו. Chazon Ish יו”ד ח”ב טז).
P.S. This obviously does not mean that their behavior or opinions are correct WHATSOEVER. Therefore, there is no reason to elect someone just because he is Jewish. We don’t elect people because they are holy, rather if they will do a good job.