Inquirer: False GOP Hopes for Jewish Support

Jason Attermann — July 18, 2011 – 12:01 pm | Democrats | Domestic Policy | Election 2012 | Israel | Obama | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Dick Polman of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a column over the weekend that confronted the false claims that American Jews are abandoning President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. Polman contextualized the current false claims against previous false claims dating back to the 1990’s. He also explained just some of the many reasons why American Jews remain Democrats and are uneasy about the Republican Party and its platform.

Polman wrote:

Supposedly, Jewish voters now realize that Obama is a threat to Israel, making the GOP their natural home. Mitt Romney stokes this notion by claiming that Obama ‘has thrown Israel under a bus.’ Michele Bachmann said Obama had ‘betrayed’ Israel, and Tim Pawlenty said that ‘Obama’s insistence on a return to the 1967 borders is a mistaken and very dangerous demand.’ Republicans have also excitedly circulated a news story, on the Politico website, that says ‘many’ Jewish Democrats have reached ‘a tipping point’ with Obama.

Gee. Where have I heard this kind of talk before?

In 1992, Republicans foresaw ‘an incremental shift’ among Jews toward the GOP - but George H.W. Bush got only 11 percent of the Jewish vote. In 1996, Republicans said that Jews would desert Bill Clinton, that the GOP had ‘opportunities for realignment’ - but Bob Dole got only 16 percent. In 2000, they said that the younger George Bush was ‘the perfect model of who the Jewish community is looking for’ - but he got only 19 percent. In 2004, they predicted ‘a major shift in [Jewish] party alliances’ - but Bush got only 22 percent. In 2008, they said Jews would never get comfortable with Obama - but Republican John McCain got only 21 percent.

Now we have a new Gallup poll, and, sure enough, the recent flap over Israel has barely nudged the needle; Jewish support for Obama is virtually the same as before. In the six weeks before his May 19 speech, he had a 65 percent approval among Jews; 29 percent felt otherwise. During the subsequent six weeks, the numbers were 62-30. Among Jewish Democrats specifically, 86 percent approved of Obama before his Israel speech; afterward, that percentage plummeted all the way to 85.

Basically, doctors will cure the common cold before most Jews vote GOP.

Polman explained:

Broadly speaking, most Jews care fiercely about the safety net, the separation of church and state, and the welfare of the underdog. They are politically liberal and socially tolerant. Most Jews will never flock to a party that wants to slash government programs, inject more religiosity in public life, and protect the rich at the expense of those in the lower brackets.

There is also a cultural disconnect. When conservatives extol ‘real America’ at the expense of the coastal ‘elites’ and ‘academia,’ and when they make sweeping moral judgments against minority groups (Bachmann’s husband has referred to gay people as ‘barbarians’), most Jews tend to interpret such rhetoric as less than welcoming.

Click here to read the full article.

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