Why are many Jews still Democrats?

Jewish Perspective ^ | August 7, 2004 | KevinE

[jperspective]

While making my usual blogging rounds the other day I came across this question. As I began writing my response I figured it would make sense to expand on the topic here.

From DeoDuce I am going to ask for your consultation on a topic: Why do so many Jews support John Kerry? John Kerry supports the UN and the UN is anti-Israel. In fact, John Kerry has made a few anti-Israel comments in his lifetime. I simply do not understand.Sincerely, DeoDuceYour favorite non-violent Arab blogger.

From JPerspective:

I'm going do my best to try to answer that question for you. Jews as a group are traditionally liberal Democrats. Religious rights and separation of church and state have traditionally been very important to them. In the 60's 70's and even the 80's liberals in this country were very supportive of Israel. Over the past 15 or so years that trend has changed. The left in America has become increasingly anti-Israel. This is due to a multitude of factors including the perception that Israel is the big bully pushing around the Palestinians. Another reason for it is because liberals by nature are appeasers. In the post 9/11 environment many liberals have come to the conclusion that if America stopped supporting Israel the terrorists wouldn't be "so angry" at us anymore and they might "leave us alone". Of course history has taught us that appeasing evil only makes it stronger. Getting back to the point the process of the Jewish population waking up to discover that as liberals they are literally sleeping with the enemy has been slow. Many Jews were suspicious of Bush in 2000 due to the perceived lack of friendship his father showed to Israel during the first Gulf War. In 2000 GWB received just 17% of the Jewish vote. George Bush has gone a long way since 2000 in gaining the trust of the Jews. He has been a supporter of Israel and has been the first president to publicly acknowledge that the issue of right of return for the Palestinian refugees is a non starter. Current Polls are showing that Bush has made huge gains within the Jewish community. Currently it is estimated that he will draw between 35%-40% of the Jewish vote. Many Jews now understand that if support of Israel is their primary concern, aligning themselves with Kerry and his Internationalist platform is a grave error. In the end I believe that the Jewish population simply has been slow to adjust their political alliances with the times. It is also important to note that there is a very large divide between secular and non secular Jews. The majority of Orthodox and Conservative Jews are very much Pro-Bush. The majority of interfaith and secular or Reformed Jews are very much Democrats and Pro-Kerry. This has a lot to do with a difference in priorities between the two groups. While many religious Jews consistently place the primary emphasis on support for Israel, many secular Jews place more emphasis on other domestic areas such as abortion rights and civil right agendas. To them Judaism and the State of Israel are simply not as important.

[beyond the sea]

It's a hard habit to break..... like not buying retail.

:-)

[Jeff Chandler]

It's a hard habit to break..... like not buying retail.

Oy vey!

[gcruse]

Whither the Jewish Vote?