Is Obama Losing the Jewish Vote?
Is Obama Losing his Appeal?
Re: Paul Ibrahim’s Fifty Reasons to Vote Against Obama
The Right to Vote
What about the Jewish Nakba?
Obama and the Jewish vote.
American Jews are a traditionally liberal, Democratic-voting bloc. And Obama's election was no exception. The president won 78% of the Jewish vote which helped him secure a close victory in Florida. But even since he started campaigning, Obama has been dogged by accusations that he is insufficiently pro-Israel and secretly supports the Palestinians. The president first raised concern amongst supporters of Israel when he stated early in the campaign that "Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people." Obama, naturally given the reality of American politics, had to retract that statement and re-phrase so as to placate the Israel lobby. But then there were Obama's pro-Palestinian friends in Chicago, particular Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi. But in the end, Obama was able to convince most Jews he is pro-Israel as the candidate enlisted prominent Jewish supporters to campaign on his behalf, himself attended many pro-Israel functions, and strictly adhered to the list of Israel lobby-approved talking points; all the while keeping his distance from anything Arab, Muslim or Palestinian.
But upon assuming office, many prominent supporters began complaining that they had been duped as they accused Obama of being hostile to Israel as the young president demanded that Israel cease illegal settlement construction and was determined to be a "honest broker" (a dreaded term by the Israel lobby) between Israel and the occupied Palestinians.
This led to many Republicans becoming giddy as they sought to portray Obama as hostile to Israel in the hopes of chipping away as the near-Democratic monopoly of the affluent Jewish vote. But until recently this seemed unlikely as a comprehensive survey conducted by American Jewish Committee showed that most Jews still support Obama:
Despite recent friction with Israel, a majority of America's Jews still support their president. The Jewish community continues to be a strong support base for President Obama.
Some 57% of US Jews support Obama versus 38% who are opposed to his policies. However, these figures reflect the downward trend in overall American support for the president. In the past presidential elections, some 80% of American Jews voted for Obama.
The annual poll carried out by the American Jewish Committee shows that 55% of American Jews approve of the manner in which Obama is handling US-Israel relations, versus 37% who disapprove.
But a more recent poll show that a lot of Jews seem to be ditching the Democratic party allegedly due to Obama's perceived hostility toward the Jewish state:
the number of Jews who identify as Republican or as independents who lean Republican has increased by more than half since the year he was elected. At 33 percent it now stands at the highest level since the data have been kept. In 2008, the ratio of Democratic Jews to Republican Jews was far more than three to one. Now it’s less than two to one.
This is no doubt a reaction, at least in part, to the Obama administration having taken a hard rhetorical stance with Israel, while taking “special time and care on our relationship with the Muslim world,” as Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, put it in June. If that sounds like courtship, it is. [...]
In April, the Republican polling firm McLaughlin & Associates released a survey that they said showed that only 42 percent of American Jews would vote to re-elect President Obama. He captured 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008. [...]
Wherever the truth lies, it is fair to say that it doesn’t bode well for Obama. While Jews are only 2 percent of the United States population, their influence outweighs their proportion. Furthermore, in crucial battleground states like Florida, their vote is critical. Obama won Florida by 3 percentage points in 2008. Jews represented 4 percent of the overall vote in that state.
This may be way recently the White House staged a photo-op with Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu and has toned down its criticism of Israel and upped its standard praise of Israel in an effort to reassure Jewish voters and donors prior to the mid-terms and Obama's own reelection campaign which starts in earnest in 2011.
