Posted on 01/05/2007 2:34:10 PM PST by shrinkermd
A record number of Jewish members will enter Congress Thursday, but more remarkable are the unparalleled positions of power they will hold on committees related to Israel, many local Jewish activists say.
Six new Jewish legislators will be joining 37 familiar faces as the 110th Congress convenes, making the total the highest-ever, according to Doug Bloomfield, a former legislative director for AIPAC.
"It's unprecedented that there have been so many [Jews] in so many positions of leadership in both houses," Bloomfield said, using a Jewish simile for how that fact will affect support for Israel: Like chicken soup, it won't hurt...
...Plus, Jews - who voted overwhelmingly Democrat in the November election (87 percent, according to exit polls) - often see more eye-to-eye with Democratic members on domestic issues and have strong personal relationships with them, according to Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council...
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
89% of Jews did vote Democrat in 2006, but the reason the number was so high has to do with the fact that the overwhelming majority of Jews live in urban and suburban congressional districts where they were already represented by Democrats.
This year, the national Democrat wave meant that none of those districts were seriously contested by Republicans.
Whenever you have an uncontested race, the incumbent does better than normal. Jews voted for the unchallenged incumbents in their districts, and in almost all cases, the incumbents were Democrats.
sadder still ... Bloomfield/Foxman, et al don't appreciate the irony, either.
Recent DNA analysis indicate that the Anglo-Saxon impact on Britain was about 5%. There never was an Anglo-Saxon 'take-over' of Britain. So...I may not be a WASP afterall.
U.S. Jews Will Vote for Democrats By Ira Forman October 26, 2006
"The word “compete” implies that two or more parties strive against each other and the outcome of that competition is in question. When it comes to the 2006 competition for the Jewish vote in America, however, there is no question of the outcome. American Jews will vote by a margin of 3-1 or a margin of 4-1 for Democrats over Republicans this fall.
How could this be? After all, if you believe the recent $1 million ad campaign put on by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), the Democratic Party is led by a bunch of anti-Israel lunatics.
It turns out, American Jews aren’t buying into the RJC’s propaganda. Despite this last minute flurry of negative advertising by desperate Republicans, Jewish voters are highly educated about the issues and they know quite precisely where the two parties and the their candidates stand.
Jewish Americans know that both parties are supportive of Israel. Despite the distortions and outright falsehoods in the RJC ads, even such leading conservatives as Bill Kristol and the ranking Republican on the House International Relations Committee, Dan Burton, have conceded that both political parties are equally pro-Israel.
Moreover, while relatively few Jews will question the intentions of the Bush Administration when it comes to Israel, Jewish Americans increasingly believe of the Administration’s ham-handed polices in the Middle East have led to a weaker America, a stronger Iran, and less security for the state of Israel.
Other issues matter to Jews as well. However, on these issues the two political parties stand diametrically opposed. These other issues are why Jews will vote in landslide proportions for Democrats this fall.
A few years back, the House of Representatives to allow prayer in schools. Nearly all Republicans voted in favor of the bill and nearly all Democrats opposed it. Just this year Republicans voted in lock step to kill a Democratic effort to prohibit coercive and abusive religious proselytizing at the Air Force Academy. One senior Republican even characterized this attempt to uphold the separation of Church and State as a “war on Christianity….”
Similarly, on the question of embryonic stem cell research, Jewish religious institutions from Reform to Orthodox have opposed the position of Bush and the majority of Congressional Republicans.
Then there are questions of economic justice. Republicans in overwhelming numbers have opposed Democratic attempts to get a straight up or down vote on increasing the minimum wage. The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies have also insisted on vast transfers of national wealth, in the form of tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, that have resulted in an explosion of federal debt which our children and our grandchildren will have to repay.
Energy independence is central to Israeli security in the 21st century as well as our own. Yet for the Republicans, energy security has meant more tax breaks for domestic oil producers and a willingness to keep shoveling American wealth to regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
There are scores of other issues - too many to list in this piece - where Republicans are on one side and the Jewish community and Democrats are on the other. But don’t trust me. Look up the latest survey results released this week by the American Jewish Committee. This survey highlights where Jews stand on issues and their continued identification with the Democratic Party.
For the Republicans who wonder why they keep getting swamped among Jews in every election year since 1992, I can only borrow and slightly modify James Carville’s adage from that year - it’s the issues, stupid.
Ira Forman is executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC).
Published in the Hartford Jewish Ledger (October 27, 2006)
I think the following paragraph is the key reason the vote goes as it goes:
"...A few years back, the House of Representatives to allow prayer in schools. Nearly all Republicans voted in favor of the bill and nearly all Democrats opposed it. Just this year Republicans voted in lock step to kill a Democratic effort to prohibit coercive and abusive religious proselytizing at the Air Force Academy. One senior Republican even characterized this attempt to uphold the separation of Church and State as a “war on Christianity….”
They should demand to be sworn in using the Koran, just to PO the slimes...
Traditionally, Jews in the US have voted 2:1 for the Dems. In 2006 they voted 9:1 for the Dems. That's a huge gain for the Dems, it's not something that Forman predicted, and it's entirely explainable by the almost complete lack of competitive races in areas where Jews live.
In 2008, Jews will again vote Democrat (unless the Dems nominate Sharpton or Kucinich or some other nut), but the percentage will go back down. This is a temporary increase and a logical one -- incumbents who aren't challenged do better than incumbents are are challenged.
But the question is not what but why? Why this overwhelming anti-conservative Jewish vote?
"but the question is not what buty why. why this overwhelming anti-conservative jewish vote?"
there are "secular" jews and "religious" jews. (for the life of me, i can't understand what a "secular" jew is; either you're jewish or you're not.)
seems that maybe lots of "secular" jews have been elected; that doesn't mean that more jews have been elected.
FIRE RETARDANT SUIT ON. Q:Why this overwhelming anti-conservative Jewish vote? A: Many jews hate (irrationally I might add) observant Christians. The religious right is identified with the Republican Party, therefore they vote for the Democrats. That the religious left (and there is one) attaches itself to the Democrats has been ignored. They are "getting even" for the pogroms and the Inquisition. They really don't like the idea that folks who are not "of the Chosen People" can latch onto their god.
"...Plus, Jews - who voted overwhelmingly Democrat in the November election (87 percent, according to exit polls) - often see more eye-to-eye with Democratic members on domestic issues and have strong personal relationships with them, according to Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council..."
You won't find a stronger supporter of the Jewish People than conservatives, so why is this? Are Jews just like the general public, and 87 percent of them are stupid?
No need for the fire retardant suit. You offer an explanation at least. If anyone differs they can address you point by point.
The ideas I have expressed are not well received by Jewish leftists. Irrational hatred of members of another religion is not something most people want to admit to in this day and age. That said, I have not made a scientific study of this phenomenon. All I know is what I observe in contact with my many Jewish friends. I do surprise a few of them when they find out my politics since I am unlike their stereotype of a conservative (admittedly with some libertarian leanings).
Yes they do realize that the RAT party leftists (e.g. Jimmy Carter) want to destroy Israel. They just cannot get out of their conditioning and admit that somewhere, somehow, a religious Christian conservative could be right. It is not rational.
The media, however, will ignore them but pay fawning attention to one Muslim.
Please file under "Proof not all Jews are smart".
there are exactly 2 jews this jew would vote for- norm coleman and eric cantor-both get high acu ratings and low aclu ratings-cantor wants the us out of the un and the un out of the us-he also rates high with firearms rights groups
probably the most idiotic post of the month. We're all the more dumb for having read it. Thanks.
They are "getting even" for the pogroms and the Inquisition.
No, its more of an insane atavistic fear.
They really don't like the idea that folks who are not "of the Chosen People" can latch onto their god.
About 1/3 of Jews are atheists or agnostics. They could care less.
The others don't care. It is more of the presumption of Christians that you are teh Chosen and that we are either ignorant, evil, anachronistic, or living museum pieces.
How do you feel about Muslims who hold that Jesus was a Muslim Prophet and that Christianity is a perversian of Jesus's Muslims teachings?
Is the media reporting on how many new Baptists, Protestants, Catholics and Episcopalians have joined congress? Is the "DRIVE BY MEDIA" trying to stir the pot in hopes of getting stories that they can report on?
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