This is a big deal which is not often discussed. Orthodox Jews are just as conservative as southern Evangelicals. And while secular "Jews" are having abortions , 1 or 2 children, intermarrying or turning gay, Orthos are having 8 kids per family, on average. Demographics is destiny. 20 years from now the DNC will no longer be able to include Jews as one of their voting blocs.
Orthodox Jews have always been socially conservative, but only within the last 15 years or so have been voting Republican in high numbers. You are correct that Orthodox Jews will become a majority of Jews in America sometime this century.
73 posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9:00:11 AM by AuH2ORepublican: “Orthodox Jews have always been socially conservative, but only within the last 15 years or so have been voting Republican in high numbers. You are correct that Orthodox Jews will become a majority of Jews in America sometime this century.”
You are both **SO** right on this!
There was a day that most Southern evangelicals were Democrats because of residual anti-Yankee hatred dating back to the Civil War. There was a day that most conservative Roman Catholics were Democrats because of historic anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic attitudes inside the Republican Party, which blasted the Democrats as the party of “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.”
The issue of abortion convinced conservative Roman Catholics to give the Republican Party a chance, and was a major factor in convincing southern evangelicals to do the same.
The same should have happened years ago with Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. If it weren't for the fact that some of the key centers of our Jewish population are in heavily Democratic strongholds, it probably would have already happened — it took time for the “Yellow Dog Democrats” of the “Solid South” to decide to vote Republican, and we need to allow time with Jewish voters as well.
We have a real chance of seeing a massive and permanent switch in party affiliation of religiously observant Jewish voters, as well as a case-by-case decision by secular and less-observant Jews who are either Zionists or conservative in their views of international relations to vote Republican if they think the Democratic Party will try to “throw Israel under the bus.”
One of the really good things is that Jewish voters, even Jewish liberals, understand that support for Israel is a core value for many Republicans and is not just something Republicans are doing this election cycle to get Jewish votes. Republicans have been supporting Israel for decades, even when they knew it wouldn't do them any good whatsoever in votes, not because of cynical vote-counting strategies but rather because because of the firm belief, either for reasons of theology or conservative foreign policy, that supporting Israel is the right thing to do.
The prospect of having a strong Jewish wing of the Republican Party excites me. Let's not waste this opportunity.