When will the United States elect a Jewish president?

[N.i.K.]

Statistically speaking, Jews are probably the most successful ethnic group in the United States (and the world, for that matter). They comprise only 2% of the population, yet they make up roughly 10% of Congress (perhaps more, I'm too lazy to look up the statistic), and make up 20% of Ivy League students. Yet there seems to be a dearth of future candidates for the position. Feingold and Giffords were possibilities, yet they seem unlikely to enter political life again (at least any time soon). Feinstein's too old, and Lieberman's too hated. Unless I'm missing anybody, it seems like a small bench, despite the dozens of backbenchers.

So, my question to you is this: When will the United States elect a Jewish President? And is that official already in public life?

[For Oklahoma]

President Eric Cantor will be the first Jewish President.

[Governor Scott]

President Eric Cantor Russ Feingold will be the first Jewish President.

[For Oklahoma]

President Eric Cantor Russ Feingold will be the first Jewish President.

I'd be happy with this.

[BaldEagle1991]

Obama's successor if he gets re-elected will be a Jew.

[I Can't Get That Sound You Make, Out Of My Head]

President Eric Cantor will be the first Jewish President.

lol, no.

America isn't that right-wing.

[crypto-fascist superhero]

Not in the foreseeable future, for the reason that they come in two varieties: obviously atheist/agnostic, and therefore unacceptable to the American public, and Orthodox, and therefore unlikely to be chosen by the GOP electorate (who prefer Christian socons to Jewish ones).  They also tend to choose unpopular positions.

[A cowboy always follows his beard]

They're all controlled by Jews anyway.

/Libertas.

But, seriously folks, I'm suprised it hasn't happened yet, since we've been ready since the 50's. I think probably one of the next 3 presidnts will be a Jew.

[EmersonAdams]

This is a tough one. If Giffords makes a full recovery, I think she has a shot (especially as Arizona gets more and more blue), and I still think Feingold would be competitive. Looking at some of the other prominent Jewish politicans... a lot are powerful figures, but for one reason or another would be tough to elect: Chuck Schumer, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, and Al Franken come to mind.

[Is JCL in mushy sappy love]

We will see a variant of Christian that hasn't gotten it get it before a Jew. That excludes Mormans but includes Pentacostals or another more conservative branch. But Russ Feingold is unacceptable and so is Cantor. So it's gonna be awhile unless a candidate comes out as a Messanic Jew.

[Senator Clarence]

Frankly- I would'v figured there'd be a Jewish President before a black man

[MilesC56]

President Eric Cantor Russ Feingold Alan Grayson will be the first Jewish President.

[For Oklahoma]

President Eric Cantor Russ Feingold Alan Grayson will be the first Jewish President.

I'd also be okay with this.

[Χahar]

Not in the foreseeable future, for the reason that they come in two varieties: obviously atheist/agnostic, and therefore unacceptable to the American public, and Orthodox, and therefore unlikely to be chosen by the GOP electorate (who prefer Christian socons to Jewish ones).  They also tend to choose unpopular positions.

Obviously Joe Lieberman would have never been elected President on his own, but he came very close to being one step away from that position. It could happen like that.

[Mr. Morden]

Not until 2020 at the earliest, and probably a good deal later than that, simply because there aren't many likely contenders coming up.

If Obama is reelected this year, then there's a good chance that the president elected in 2016 will be a Catholic:

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=142328.0

[Californian Tony]

I think Americans would be fine with electing a jewish President. They just haven't had an occasion to in recent time. When this occasion will come is irrelevant.

[Communists For McCain]

I think Americans would be fine with electing a jewish President. They just haven't had an occasion to in recent time. When this occasion will come is irrelevant.

^^^^
This.

There haven't been a lot of Jews who have been interested in high office.  Otherwise, a Jewish president could've been possible as early as the seventies.

[Vasall des Midas]

They're all controlled by Jews anyway.

/Libertas.

Since "Jew" is code for "Zionist", and "Zionist" is code for "involved in any kind of 'world government' activity"... I think Gerald Ford started the tradition that American Presidents need to have attended a Bilderberg Conference before coming into office.

[GLPman]

I'd give it another 20-30 years.

[ag]

Whenever a suitable candidate appears. At this point, it's not much different from a Catholic president  (: ) )- it's just that the pool is smaller.

Now, there are all sorts of handicaps that have nothing to do w/ being Jewish per se, but might have to do w/ other things associated with being Jewish. For instance, most Jews live in a handful of fairly uncompetitive states and area  tad too urban; also a lot are a bit too far from the ideological mainstream.

And, of course, the true pool is really even smaller, as neither the Haredi, nor most of the Russians would be suitable - the former, for the same reasons as, say, Amish; the latter, because too many are not natural-born. That, in turn, makes the pool of potential Republican Jews very small - other than Cantor, there are simply too few successful politicians with national exposure who could even be thought of.

There are more moderate Dems, though, so this may well happen one of these days. 

[Progressive Realist]

Not in the foreseeable future, for the reason that they come in two varieties: obviously atheist/agnostic, and therefore unacceptable to the American public, and Orthodox, and therefore unlikely to be chosen by the GOP electorate (who prefer Christian socons to Jewish ones).  They also tend to choose unpopular positions.

Obviously Joe Lieberman would have never been elected President on his own, but he came very close to being one step away from that position. It could happen like that.

Joe Lieberman is not a great example though, because his views are more insufferable than someone like Henry Waxman or Russ Feingold.

[Mr. Morden]

Jews only make up 2% of the US population, so if it was completely random, then you'd only expect one to be elected president once every 200 years or so.  Of course, Jews are overrepresented in government relative to their population numbers.  12% of the US Senate is Jewish, for example, though it's not clear that that overrepresentation will continue to be so extreme forever.  If we assume that they'll be 12% of the pool of available candidates, and that each election is completely random among the available candidates, then it would happen every 30 something years.....though that ignore the fact that there are correlations between elections, and incumbents win quite frequently.  So maybe one Jewish president every 50 years or so.

[WhyteRain]

Obama is the first Jewish (diaspora variety) president.

http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+is+the+first+jewish+president

[Emperor SJoyce]

Not until 2020 at the earliest, and probably a good deal later than that, simply because there aren't many likely contenders coming up.

If Obama is reelected this year, then there's a good chance that the president elected in 2016 will be a Catholic:

The Catholic President after Obama will be Andrew Cuomo. Fact.

Andrew Cuomo would make an awful President. Fact.

[politicus]

My nephew Nathan Abramowitz says he is going to be president and since nobody knows when it will happen anyway, I am going to go with him as the first Jewish president. The kid is 8 so 2040 will be his first shot. Ill chose 2048 to give him a few years to lay the groundwork for his career.