Posted on 11/30/2010 12:50:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In recent weeks, a number of prominent Jewish intellectuals have been publicly praising Sarah Palin. This despite a recent poll, reported by veteran analyst James Besser (Nov. 26), that well-educated Jews appear to be overwhelmingly opposed to Palin. How do we explain this discrepancy?
Besser focuses on a recent poll showing Palin with stronger support among voters in general who are "less educated" and "less affluent." That poll made no reference to Jewish voters, but Besser argues that since Jews are "more educated than the population at large and more affluent," therefore one may safely assume they oppose Palin too.
Let’s recall that pundits made similar assumptions about Ronald Reagan when he was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980. Reagan also had considerable appeal among the less educated and the less affluent; surely educated and affluent Jews would support President Jimmy Carter – or so the pundits reasoned. But on election day, the majority of American Jews repaid Carter's disdain for Israel, his impotence in rescuing the Americans held hostage in Iran, and his mismanagement of the American economy, by abandoning him for Ronald Reagan, the most conservative Presidential candidate of the post-Vietnam era. Reagan received the largest share of the Jewish vote of any Republican presidential nominee in U.S. history.
While it is certainly too early to assume that 1980 will repeat itself in 2012, there are signs of growing respect for Gov. Palin’s policies and positions – especially among some of the Jewish intellectuals whom Besser presumes now oppose her.
Just two days after the Nov. 2nd elections, Palin authored a 1500-word manifesto, published in the pages of National Review, detailing her strategy to "renew, revive, and restore" America according to free-market economics, energy independence, a strong national security policy and traditional moral values.
John Podhoretz, editor in chief of Commentary magazine, immediately hailed the Palin Plan as "brilliant." It is perhaps no coincidence that his father and predecessor at Commentary's helm, Norman Podhoretz, had endorsed Palin in the Wall Street Journal in March of this year, and was an early supporter of Ronald Reagan's presidential ambitions at a time when many of his colleagues also questioned Reagan's intellectual bonafides.
Then hear the views of Seth Lipsky, founder and editor emeritus of the English-language edition of The Forward, now editing at The New York Sun. For Lipsky, a serious student of the Constitution and author of the recent book The Citizen's Constitution: An Annotated Guide, the genius of Palin's platform is in her advocacy of “Constitutional conservatism.”
According to Lipsky, Palin insists on adhering "to the original intent [of the Constitution], the principles of the Founders," a determination "to wrestle with what they were actually talking about," not what contemporary policy wonks wish they had been saying. "This is an idea for our times, if there ever was one," Lipsky concludes, because unlike other contemporary conservative strains, “every American has a relationship to the Constitution.”
Palin’s Constitutional conservatism, in Lipsky’s view, "is unifying, uplifting, and inclusive."
Or consider William Kristol, a Fox News contributor, founding editor of one of America's most important journals, The Weekly Standard, and son of renowned Jewish intellectual Irving Kristol. Bill Kristol was one of Palin's earliest supporters, and remains so.
Even U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, I-CT, certainly no knee-jerk conservative, recognizes that Palin's effectively address wide-spread concerns: "Sarah Palin for a lot of people has become a spokesperson. People worried that government has forgotten them, has grown too big, that the deficit is growing too large, and in some sense that we’re not being as strong as we should be in the world — Governor Palin has spoken to those concerns as much as anyone."
Lieberman, Kristol, Lipsky, and the Podhoretz’s are sophisticated, educated, thinking Jews who appreciate Palin's heartfelt support for Israel, her forceful and informed advocacy for energy independence, her strong stance on national security, and her fealty to traditional moral values (sometimes we forget these are Jewish values, too!). All are bellwethers of the increasing respect for Sarah Palin amongst us – the educated and affluent American Jews.
It’s a small thing, but I hope important.
The anti-semetic vitriol of the left, I think has a lot to do with the slow, slow waking of my tribe.
The anti-semetic vitriol of the left, I think has a lot to do with the slow, slow waking of my tribe.”
Cripes, I would hope so. I know who would be most likely to exterminate terrorists between SP and Zero. But those bastards are the most viscous racists on the planet and they still get 90% of the black vote. I really don’t get it.
Besser focuses on a recent poll showing Palin with stronger support among voters in general who are “less educated” and “less affluent.” .............................................. LOL LOL LOL, wasn’t there a survey that showed 80-82% of those with less than a HS Ed. voted for OBAMA?? That would leave 18% to vote Republican. Maybe Palin had the Majority of the 18%?? This is such Crapolla! It is Liberal Dribble at its worst. Everyone that speaks to me about Palin have degrees and $$, and they love her. Unfortunately a couple are still leaning towards Romney, but they’re from MA, so they’re stuck on....,Agrrrrr. On the bright side, they’ll go with Palin if she is on the ticket.
Contact EVERY SINGLE ONE of your Jewish friends and ask them how the heck they can vote Democrap
“unifying, uplifting, and inclusive”
That is the most exciting thing I have read all day. Let’s see how it evolves.
Sarah already threatens one of the left’s most dependable voting blocks: women. Now, if Jews start to abandon Karl Marx in significant numbers, there is real hope for our Republic.
I have never understood how my Jewish friends could vote Donkey. It does NOT compute.
They are drawn to the “COMPASSION” of redistributionist ideology. However, you would think that their experience with statism in the 20th century would have nuanced that view. /sarc
This guy is a liar, Reagan got 39% of the Jewish vote in 1980, and it was not the largest share in history either, Hughes got 45% in 1916, Harding 43% in 1920, Eisenhower 40% in 1956, and Reagan's Jewish support dropped to 31% in the 1984 election when Reagan won his massive, landslide reelection.
Then hear the views of Seth Lipsky, founder and editor emeritus of the English-language edition of The Forward, now editing at The New York Sun. For Lipsky, a serious student of the Constitution and author of the recent book The Citizen's Constitution: An Annotated Guide, the genius of Palin's platform is in her advocacy of “Constitutional conservatism.”According to Lipsky, Palin insists on adhering "to the original intent [of the Constitution], the principles of the Founders," a determination "to wrestle with what they were actually talking about," not what contemporary policy wonks wish they had been saying. "This is an idea for our times, if there ever was one," Lipsky concludes, because unlike other contemporary conservative strains, “every American has a relationship to the Constitution.”
Palin’s Constitutional conservatism, in Lipsky’s view, "is unifying, uplifting, and inclusive."
I'm not familiar with Seth Lipsky, but I certainly agree with his above statements. I've said before that Constitutional conservatism is our only chance for survival as a nation (or at least a nation worth living in).
Most of the Jewish people I know are political conservatives, but even most of them take issue with Palin and prefer Gingrich, eg. The problem may be that they confuse intellectualism with intelligence, and quickly dismiss her.
There’s a difference between being intelligent and being informed. Palin is quite intelligent. She was woefully ill-informed about a lot of important domestic and international issues in 2008. She’s gotten better, but not enough to get my support over a true policy wonk, such as Bobby Jindal or Mitch Daniels.
Jindal isn’t running and Daniels has already announced a surrender on social conservatism.
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