Citing Israel, GOP eyes Jewish vote

[Miles]

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[Antonio the Sixth]

Not gonna happen.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Kerry has pretty much thrown the door open, but the problem is, most individual Democrat Representatives and Senators have been fairly pro-Israel during this period. Not enough to take advantage of in those races.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Has any polling been performed as to the degree to which the American Jewish diaspora actually support Israel's actions? Or is it just assumed they'll follow whatever the Israeli government decides?

[Maxwell]

The Jewish people are not single issue voters, and even if they were, a lot of Democrats support Israel anyway.

[GaussLaw]

The Jewish people are not single issue voters, and even if they were, a lot of Democrats support Israel anyway.

Exactly.  Besides, the average Jew in America is quite secular and is practically in the "No Religion" camp......many of them are very skeptical about God's existence and are hardly super pro-Israel.  This GOP strategy works with Orthodox Jews(which Republicans do well with), not so much with Reform Jews.

[King]

The Evangelical right scares the crap out of both American and Israeli Jews. It's been made very clear they want preserve Israel for Armageddon and convert them.

While they accept their support, they're not keen on the right being at the controls necessarily.

[7,052,770]

One reason American Jews are so left-leaning is that right-wing Jews disproportionately moved to Israel.

[All Along The Watchtower]

lol, good luck with that. Basically what everyone else said.

[ingemann]

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

[dead0man]

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

As you know, da juice control everything, so a lot.

[Vosem]

Maybe in 20-30 years, this could happen (we're seeing the Jewish move to the right abroad, in Canada and France -- and Israel, I suppose), but Jews will vote >60%, maybe >70% for Democratic Party candidates in 2014. Notwithstanding contrarians like me.

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

It could tip the balance in close races. Every vote matters and whatnot.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Maybe in 20-30 years, this could happen (we're seeing the Jewish move to the right abroad, in Canada and France -- and Israel, I suppose), but Jews will vote >60%, maybe >70% for Democratic Party candidates in 2014. Notwithstanding contrarians like me.

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

It could tip the balance in close races. Every vote matters and whatnot.

Don't the majority of American Jews live in solidly Democratic urban/metropolitan regions, anyway?

[TNF]

HAHAHA

[Horus]

Seeing as more and more American Jews are speaking out against Israel, I doubt this will work.

[Sol]

Maybe in 20-30 years, this could happen (we're seeing the Jewish move to the right abroad, in Canada and France -- and Israel, I suppose), but Jews will vote >60%, maybe >70% for Democratic Party candidates in 2014. Notwithstanding contrarians like me.

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

It could tip the balance in close races. Every vote matters and whatnot.

Don't the majority of American Jews live in solidly Democratic urban/metropolitan regions, anyway?

It could help a bit in Florida, I suppose.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Evangelical right scares the crap out of both American and Israeli Jews. It's been made very clear they want preserve Israel for Armageddon and convert them.

While they accept their support, they're not keen on the right being at the controls necessarily.

The Jewish people are not single issue voters, and even if they were, a lot of Democrats support Israel anyway.

Speaking as someone who actually is Jewish, I can confirm both of these, especially what King said.  I would add two other things, however:

1) Both Judaism and Jewish culture place an extremely high value upon social justice while the Republican Party is filled with folks like Glenn Beck who are running around screaming that social justice is somehow a code word for eugenics and/or Nazism.

2) Jewish culture places an incredibly high value upon education.  I am far from the only Jewish voter who believes that the Republicans have become a fundamentally anti-intellectual party.  Beyond which, that whole "Yee-haw, look it here!  I can't speak the English right and got me that there ten-gallon hat and some of them cowboy boots 'yall " schtick that a lot of Southern Republicans have is absolutely repulsive to most Jewish voters.  Until they can fix that, the Republican Party will have about as much luck reaching out to non-Orthodox Jewish voters as Snowstalker

[Deus Naturae]

Beyond which, that whole "Yee-haw, look it here!  I can't speak the English right and got me that there ten-gallon hat and some of them cowboy boots 'yall " schtick that a lot of Southern Republicans have is absolutely repulsive to most Jewish voters.  Until they can fix that, the Republican Party will have about as much luck reaching out to non-Orthodox Jewish voters as Snowstalker

This probably has more to do with repulsion toward the South in general than it has to do with any actual actions of Southern Republicans. I mean, most GOP Congressmen from the South don't actually strut around DC in cowboy outfits...that's just what comes to mind when you think of the South, so you associate that with Southern politicians. Likewise, most Southern politicians don't actually brag about how they can't speak English, you just associate the South with illiteracy so that's what comes to mind when you hear a Southern accent. It's similar to how people associate Jews with lawyers, financiers, etc.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Beyond which, that whole "Yee-haw, look it here!  I can't speak the English right and got me that there ten-gallon hat and some of them cowboy boots 'yall " schtick that a lot of Southern Republicans have is absolutely repulsive to most Jewish voters.  Until they can fix that, the Republican Party will have about as much luck reaching out to non-Orthodox Jewish voters as Snowstalker

This probably has more to do with repulsion toward the South in general than it has to do with any actual actions of Southern Republicans. I mean, most GOP Congressmen from the South don't actually strut around DC in cowboy outfits...that's just what comes to mind when you think of the South, so you associate that with Southern politicians. Likewise, most Southern politicians don't actually brag about how they can't speak English, you just associate the South with illiteracy so that's what comes to mind when you hear a Southern accent. It's similar to how people associate Jews with lawyers, financiers, etc.

No, it really isn't.  George W. Bush, George Allen, Louie Gohmert, Rick Perry, etc are always doing this sort of thing at campaign events in the South.  It isn't what comes to mind when I think of the South.  I said Southern Republican politicians and that was what I meant.  Whether it is fair or not, the perception most Jewish voters have of the Republican party.  Many of us see Southern Republican politicians as kind of like the Rich Texan from the Simpsons (as far as mannerisms go) and it really doesn't play well with Jewish voters.

[bullmoose88]

This.

Even if the Republicans did end up with a majority of the Jewish vote, how much would it really mean?

And this.

The Jewish people are not single issue voters, and even if they were, a lot of Democrats support Israel anyway.

I find that things don't exactly occur in a vacuum.  Assuming the majority of the total Jewish vote suddenly became Republican, can we agree on a general (I realize no group is the Borg) characterization of "Jewish" political beliefs?  I always assumed (and someone please correct me if otherwise), that generally Jewish folks tend to be a bit more liberal, especially socially...does the "right" really want to allow such views to influence the party?  Would the Democratic Party become slightly more conservative as a result?  Would that then kick off a chain of alignments as the parties would move ever so slightly closer to center (how far each has to go is a different question)? 

In some respects this seems like a be careful what you wish for sort of thing.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Probably a majority of American Jews live in California and New York. So it doesn't matter.

[tallguy23]

I live in the LA area and have quite a few Jewish friends/colleagues. The only two who I have EVER heard talk about Israel as a political issue are both from Israel. It's probably their most important political issue and they both vote GOP because of it.

The rest are quite secular and barely even celebrate Jewish holidays. They vote Democratic based on social issues and a sense of social justice. Also, they view the GOP as being very anti-intellectual.

[Simfan34]

Good luck with that.

[Comrade Funk]

Borderline offensive to say Jewish-Americans base their vote only on Israel.

[pbrower2a]

The Evangelical right scares the crap out of both American and Israeli Jews. It's been made very clear they want preserve Israel for Armageddon and convert them.

While they accept their support, they're not keen on the right being at the controls necessarily.

The Jewish people are not single issue voters, and even if they were, a lot of Democrats support Israel anyway.

Speaking as someone who actually is Jewish, I can confirm both of these, especially what King said.  I would add two other things, however:

1) Both Judaism and Jewish culture place an extremely high value upon social justice while the Republican Party is filled with folks like Glenn Beck who are running around screaming that social justice is somehow a code word for eugenics and/or Nazism.

2) Jewish culture places an incredibly high value upon education.  I am far from the only Jewish voter who believes that the Republicans have become a fundamentally anti-intellectual party.  Beyond which, that whole "Yee-haw, look it here!  I can't speak the English right and got me that there ten-gallon hat and some of them cowboy boots 'yall " schtick that a lot of Southern Republicans have is absolutely repulsive to most Jewish voters.  Until they can fix that, the Republican Party will have (practically no)  luck reaching out to non-Orthodox Jewish.

About what I thought. Even if I am not Jewish (nearly half-English/Welsh/Scots-Irish and nearly half German or Swiss), I vote much the same way as Jews because I value education and social justice.

I don't know about the ten-gallon hat stuff, as there are Texas Jews who affect a ten-gallon hat (but draw the line at assimilating the bad grammar). 

With their anti-intellectualism, Republicans are also having trouble with Asians (south, south-east, and east) who have similar reputations for respect for intellectual achievement. Lots of Hispanics, too.