Why did Jews love Anderson?

[JonathanSwift]

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html

Apparently, in 1980, John B. Anderson won 15% of the Jewish vote -- more than double his showing of 7% among the electorate as a whole, and higher than any other single demographic group polled that year. By contrast, Ross Perot did far worse among Jewish voters than among the general electorate in 1992 and 1996 -- not a huge shock, I suppose -- and more surprisingly, even Nader in 2000 only got 1% of the Jewish vote will winning 2% of the total vote.

So, what was it that made Jews give such a high percentage of their vote to Anderson? Was there something in his platform that was especially amenable to them? One thought that came to mind was that they may have been turned off by the religiosity of both Carter and Reagan, but that doesn't really make much sense either given that Anderson shared that characteristic.

Thoughts?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Probably Liberal Republicans turned off by Reagan.

[Horus]

Were I alive in 1980 I would've voted for him. My Jewish mother, uncle and several cousins all did. They were never big fans of Carter's phony populism and they hated Reagan.

[JonathanSwift]

Probably Liberal Republicans turned off by Reagan.

Well, despite being a Republican himself, Anderson seems to have taken a lot more Jewish votes from Carter than from Reagan, based purely on the statistics. Carter won Jews 64-34 against Ford in 1976, but only won them 45-39 against Reagan, while Carter's Vice President Mondale went on to win the Jewish vote 67-31 during his landslide defeat in 1984.

Were I alive in 1980 I would've voted for him. My Jewish mother, uncle and several cousins all did. They were never big fans of Carter's phony populism and they hated Reagan.

That makes sense. Thank you for your input.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Probably Liberal Republicans turned off by Reagan.

Not only liberal Republicans but also liberal Democrats who were disappointed with Carter and saw Anderson as a more palatable choice than ultra-conservative Reagan.

[Podgy the Bear]

The vote on U.N. Security Council resolution 456 about Jerusalem in March 1980 hurt Carter significantly.  It allowed Ted Kennedy to come back and win the New York and Connecticut primaries and take the nomination fight all the way to the convention.

I believe that Kennedy retained significant Jewish support throughout his campaign.   And when he didn't get the nomination, a lot of his voters couldn't stomach Carter and instead went to Anderson (and even to Reagan).

[bobloblaw]

Because Reagan was too conservative and Carter was perceived as anti-Israel

[Thunderbird is the word]

Putting the Israel issue aside I think that a lot of liberal Jews might have always been put off by Carter's evangelical populism but at the same time wouldn't vote Republican for any reason and especially not someone as conservative as Reagan, so Anderson probably was a natural fit.

[Sumner 1868]

Comparing the reported Jewish vote in the 1976 and 1980 exit polls, it looks like most of these Anderson voters supported Carter in 1976.

[JonathanSwift]

Lots of great answers. Thanks to everyone who responded!

[Thunderbird is the word]

Comparing the reported Jewish vote in the 1976 and 1980 exit polls, it looks like most of these Anderson voters supported Carter in 1976.

Hmm fair point

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The New Republic's endorsement of Anderson was 99% just criticisms of Carter but said that Anderson represented "an articulated set of liberal views that don’t carry the stigma of failure and betrayal."