Posted on 04/16/2005 10:11:48 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Quite a claim in that title, isn't it? Anyone who is interested in voting trends and tendencies in the United States electorate is well aware that Jewish Americans usually vote far more often for the Democratic candidate in our presidential elections than they do the Republican. However, a recent survey on Jewish voters in the 2004 election relayed the startling fact that half of American Jews who attend Temple regularly voted for George W. Bush.
This is survey was not made by a Republican either, by the way. The man reporting this finding is Democratic candidate John Kerry's pollster, Mark Mellman who, according to a recent L.A.Times article , reported his study results conducted during the 2004 campaign's final month.
Mellman's study found that Americans of all stripes who attended religious services regularly tended to vote Republican far more often than they voted Democratic. His findings among Jewish voters was not as lopsided as that among Christian voters but still the Jewish vote was split down the middle between GOP and Democrat voters. That split is still an amazing new trend in the Jewish community. In fact, George Bush made advances in every Jewish voter category to one degree or another.
Of course, many in the chattering classes on the left have been yelping about the evil "religious right" dominating the Republican Party for a decade now. But they must have been taken aback by this rise in GOP voters among the left's favorite and most reliable voting block, the US Jewish population.
It is becoming clear that Americans who have a strong religious belief, just about any religious belief, are turning to the Republican Party in greater numbers every year. And several conclusions can be drawn from this statistic.
Religions are generally family oriented. Religions have well structured moral tenets, they know what is right and what is wrong (within their own moral codes). Religions are stable in ideology and steady in deliberation. Religions are steeped in tradition and mindful of historical precedent. Religions also place an emphasis on duty, honesty and self-reliance. The Religious are voters with quintessentially American ideal.
Whereas, over the last 70 years, the bedrock of American citizenry among the religious have voted for the "Party of the people," the Democratic Party, these people are now voting Republican far more often than their former allegiance. This is a sea change in US voter trends. So, it makes one wonder what has changed?
Have American ideals or principles changed? Have those of the GOP radically changed? Or have those of the Democrats changed? No to the first, and yes to the later two would be your answer.
Americans have not changed very much in their basic principles except to tend toward a more even distribution of those ideals and expectations upon more categories of Americans than was extant in past decades. But, both political parties have changed and quite radically, too. The Republicans have evolved from a Party strictly representing the Business Community, and little else, to that of representing the people whereas the Democrats have drifted far away from representing the average American citizen and become a Party of dispirit fringe interests. The Republican's sea change is the only one that has tended toward the current and historical ideas and principles of the average American voter and that is why they are enlarging their voter base every year and why the Democrats, tending to represent radical, fringe groups are losing theirs.
Consequently, religious Americans are increasingly finding themselves uncomfortable and unwelcome among the lunatic fringe in the Democratic Party and Democratic pollster Mellman has proved this true once again.
In light of these facts the question becomes, just what kind of America does the Democratic Party want to see promoted? One which the average citizen has voted to support since time immemorial, or one that is radically different, one pushed by the kinds of extremist, fringe groups that Americans have rejected for over 200 years?
Even Democratic pollster Mellman seems to be confirming that the Democratic party is increasingly out of the mainstream in answer to that question.
Warner Todd Huston is a freelance writer and graphic designer. His work ranges from historical essays to popular culture and has been published in several magazines and on many websites. He is the editor for Publius' Forum website at http://www.publiusforum.blogspot.com.
What gets me is how, suddenly, being religous is a BAD thing.
How did this happen?
Somehow the left has convinced people that believing in God makes you evil and unfit to be a leader! This used to make you one of the good guys!
This, of course, does not pertain to Islam, since that is NOT a religion. In fact, the left seems to feel that muzzies are the only true and good people left in the world.
The Jewish vote is disproportinately (to your surmisal) important in Florida and maybe Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
If NY or Kali or IL or CT were close, it might matter there too.
Those (and increasing AZ) have the largest Jewish populations %-wise.
There are 5.7 million Jews in the US now but that is expected to decline to half that in 3-4 generations given their low birthrate...how odd.
The Jewish vote is not a large factor in Ohio. The ignorant working class in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) is the main Dem constituency in Ohio.
No doubt about that?
What do you think about the projected big drop in US Jewish pop?
I got that from the American Jewish Committee.
We had a discussion around here before 11-04 that highly concentrated Jewish voting blocs in some states could make a difference if the race were close. I though the point valid at the time.
Actually I found several sources that thought the Jewish vote in Ohio was important....which is why I mentioned it....that and it was such a close race.
http://www.rjchq.org/news.asp?formmode=Detail&ID=691
However, if Ohio is your expertise (it's not mine admittedly) then I defer to your hands on knowledge.
Regards
Crossthreading.
Haley should be on JR's poll.
There's a popular lesson that many Jews see in their history, that no matter how patriotic and conformist they were, people will still hated them for being Jewish. (Jews who pledged loyalty to the Nazis met the same fate as those who resisted...) I don't know if that explains their leftward slant or not. I tend to downplay the idea, but some people believe it.
Yep. I voted other as well.
I could not tell you with even 25% certainty who it will be at this point. They need to start media grooming a few fairly soon.
I'm not sure Hillary will take the Left and I am fairly certain we can beat her if we don't shoot oursleves first over little nothings.
Hillary is an unreconstructed Saul Alinksy socialist. She will not be able to run from that. I blame her daddy, he shoulda hugged her more.
I believe your surmisal has merit.
I think there are other reasons too....mostly cultural or sorta religious.
Judaism is still messianic searching and dovetails more readily with humanism or the elevation of such.
Tikkun Olam....doing good deeds....anyone can tell you liberals do more humanitarian things than we do....lol...untrue but old conventional wisdom dies hard.
A natural and not completely unmerited distrust of Christianity which is more associated with Conservatism than not today.
lastly, the argument of inherent anti-pluralism for survival's sake is tossed about as well...who knows....that Jews fear absolute majorities is not unfounded and nor is that fear always unmerited.
I don't know where this will go. I expect more Jews to move right by demographics they have no control over and the rise of Islam which is unabashedly genocidal to Jews.
I do know that many Jews who have come right are wonderful additions to Conservatism and eloquent defenders of our beliefs.
You mean,,,, Secular JEWS... J.I.N.O.
Oh yes she got radicalized in the Northeast. She was an unabashed WWP socialist.
I got the daddy thing from a bio I read how her dad was never as impressed with her achievements as much as with her brothers' which frankly now she has admittedly surpassed.
Jews tend to vote disproportionate to their numbers in the population. In New York and Florida, two states where I have spent 98% of my life, Jews have the highest voter turnout of any ethnic group. The Jewish vote is all but crucial in places like Florida, New York, New Jersey, and California.
Strident and angry.
this is old fashioned but I think a good marriage with some heat woulda made her kinder and gentler.
women need all that same as we do for a more well rounded outlook.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.