Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

(September 2009) Why Are Jews Liberals?—A Symposium
Commentary Magazine ^ | September 2009 | David Wolpe, Jonathan D. Sarna, Michael Medved, William Kristol and Jeff Jacoby

Posted on 09/13/2010 10:49:05 AM PDT by Inappropriate Laughter

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-111 next last
To: ex-snook
"Members of these groups will know it is OK to become a Republican when one of their members gets the GOP nomination for President."

Then again they may look at him as a sellout the way African Americans view Conservatives like Thomas Sewell and Clarance Thomas.

41 posted on 09/13/2010 11:44:42 AM PDT by wmileo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: blasater1960

“why are there 40 million liberal Christians who belong the the far left National Council of Churches “

Of course you know though that they vote less reliably for the left than do Jews.


42 posted on 09/13/2010 11:45:12 AM PDT by Pessimist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Ev Reeman

And Jew that votes for a democrat must be a moron or have a mental illness especially in light of what Obama and company are trying to do to the state of Israel.

I’ve made this comment a 1000 times—Israel has absolutely NOTHING to do with why they vote lib. They are libs first and Jews last. Israel is nothing more than a status symbol to these people.


43 posted on 09/13/2010 11:46:24 AM PDT by Jaysin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: NavyCanDo
For most American Jews, the core of their Jewish identity isn’t solidarity with Israel; it’s rejection of Christianity

Medved makes sense. I believe most Jews are afraid of Christianity becoming too dominant in American culture...thus their tendency to vote Dem.

44 posted on 09/13/2010 11:48:40 AM PDT by Siena Dreaming
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Inappropriate Laughter

Feelings. Not thought.


45 posted on 09/13/2010 11:49:02 AM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jjotto

Of course you’re correct that they make up a small percentage of voters.

Nonetheless, they represent a cultural elite, hence their views carry more weight.

And as for the 30 million evangelicals you mention: What percentage voted for Obama?


46 posted on 09/13/2010 11:49:58 AM PDT by Pessimist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: ken5050
Some of the authors reference WW II, and how FDR lead this country to defeat the Nazis. Yet it's hardly ever mentioned that the same FDR marched thousand of Japanese-Americans off to camps, and more importantly, he probably condemend several hundred thousand Jews to death when he refused to allow entry into the US before the war.

When Hitler first took power, Democrats in Congress (led by Senator Wagner from New York) tried to liberalize immigration laws to permit Jews fleeing the Nazis to enter the U.S. The Republicans in Congress fiercely fought, and ultimately defeated, the proposal. A lot of American Jewish antipathy to Republicans stems from that era. When I grew up in the 1950s and 60s, I still heard older relatives talking about it.

47 posted on 09/13/2010 11:50:25 AM PDT by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist

Welfare? Huh?


48 posted on 09/13/2010 11:57:03 AM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Nothing to see here. Move along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Inappropriate Laughter

I am saving the article to read later. Fascinating people have answered this question.

Without reading their learned answers, I offer the one I always give to these threads:

It is excruciatingly difficult to go to a gathering of Jewish friends and family as a conservative. It takes a rather tough hide and a strong sense of self. It’s almost too hard for me, and I have been doing it for 15 or so years.

Many Jews have rapier wits and big mouths. A group of Jews feel very comfortable mocking one of their own who is straying from the groupthink. If you go into the Yom Kippur fasting break party and declare your love of Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin, you will be devoured faster than the bagels and lox. And these people have not eaten food for 25 hours! I’m just sayin’.

I believe there are many Jews, as well as many people working in The Industry (entertainment) here, who SECRETLY vote Republican, but they will not admit it in a crowd of peers.

I’ve walked into my family gatherings and gotten the whole “But you would NEVER go to a TEA PARTY, right??” Said in the same tone of voice they would use to say “But you would NEVER wade through feces waist deep, right?”


49 posted on 09/13/2010 11:58:01 AM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist

“Nonetheless, they represent a cultural elite, hence their views carry more weight.”

Yeah, and they control all the banks and Hollywood.

(yes, saracasm).

The primary reasons people endlessly harp on how Jewish people vote are:

1. It’s astroturf to show Jewish people who are leaving the plantatation that racism is alive-and-well in conservative circles, William F. Buckley be damned.

2. Real bigots.

It’s an insignificant issue for the 20-30 threads that are on F.R. every week, week after week.


50 posted on 09/13/2010 12:00:52 PM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Nothing to see here. Move along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist

As a ‘cultural elite’, Jews are amply represented as activists in the conservative movement.

About 25% of evangelicals voted for Obama. That would be upwards of 10 or more million votes, depending on whose numbers used. And even more evangelicals did not vote.

One analysis of the evangelical vote is at

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/the_evangelical.html


51 posted on 09/13/2010 12:07:11 PM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist
Of course you know though that they vote less reliably for the left than do Jews.

Maybe so... but Jews dont swing national elections, Christians do.

52 posted on 09/13/2010 12:11:18 PM PDT by blasater1960 (Deut 30, Psalm 111...the Torah and the Law, is attainable past, present and forever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Inappropriate Laughter

Checking this out now.


53 posted on 09/13/2010 12:11:21 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (Shabbat Shabbaton hi' lakhem ve`inniytem 'et-nafshoteykhem; chuqqat `olam.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist

Just FYI, Florida is the only state where Jewish votes could have made a difference in 2008, but Florida’s 27 electoral votes wouldn’t have made a difference in the 365-173 EV totals.


54 posted on 09/13/2010 12:12:07 PM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: jjotto
Easier to blame the jooooz

Inane statement. There is no "blame". It is a (unfortunately never ending) discussion of a serious question.

And it is not a discussion to the exclusion of all else. We are always working on multiple fronts. Unlike the congress which seems to be able to think only of one crisis at a time.

3 million voters, especially ones that tend to vote as a block, is not insignificant. But regardless of that, millions of Jews voting in direct conflict with (what one would imagine is) their self interests is a conundrum that should not be ignored.

55 posted on 09/13/2010 12:35:52 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: NavyCanDo

Yes-and in this they make a huge mistake in equating Europe’s “Christians” with American ones.


56 posted on 09/13/2010 12:53:17 PM PDT by Amberdawn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: ChildOfThe60s
millions of Jews voting in direct conflict with (what one would imagine is) their self interests is a conundrum

Leftism is motivated by envy. In the case of the Jews they fear getting killed by the left in envy, as has happened continously for thousands of years, most recently in socialist Germany and communist Russia. So they appease the left by befriending the green eyed monster so that they might be eaten last. Jews do not fear getting killed or looted by conservatives so politically conservatives aren't a factor to them. Jews wish to deflect envy, and because they are greatly outnumbered, appeasement is their main option.

When the left kills Jews, the smarter ones tend to get away. Repeat this process for thousands of years and the surviving Jews get smarter, creating even more envy from the left. In Israel the Jews have evolved to the point that they have come to enjoy fighting with the Arab left, not killing them off once and for all out of a sense of sport.

57 posted on 09/13/2010 1:14:13 PM PDT by Reeses
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: jjotto

I read somewhere that roughly 7% of the population considers themselves evangelical.

25% of 7% < 98% of 2%


58 posted on 09/13/2010 1:29:49 PM PDT by Pessimist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: blasater1960

“but Jews dont swing national elections,”

You’re discounting their roll in media.

Take John Stewart for instance.

Think he had no effect at all?


59 posted on 09/13/2010 1:31:30 PM PDT by Pessimist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Inappropriate Laughter
if one extrapolates from the data I’ve seen, Obama seems to have had among Jewish men under 30 no greater a margin than he had among non-Jewish men under 30; this may even hold for men under 40. So young Jewish men may finally be behaving politically more like other Americans. (Jewish women are another story.)

So, it's the Roosevelt-loving old farts , who are dying out, and Jewish women. Not sure what can be done about the latter.

60 posted on 09/13/2010 1:32:47 PM PDT by Nonstatist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-111 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson