Jews are Among Democrats’ Staunchest Supporters

David Streeter — October 8, 2009 – 10:05 am | Democrats | Domestic Policy | Foreign Policy | Israel | Polls Comments (1) Add a comment

Mark Mellman of The Mellman Group wrote a piece in The Hill that included an interesting observation gleamed from a joint poll on Jewish voting patterns that he conducted with NJDC. Mellman published some of the poll’s findings and compares them to the arguments from Norman Podhoretz’s polemical rant about Jewish liberalism, Why are Jews Liberal?

According to Podhoretz: “American Jews…are too wealthy to be economically liberal, the Bible too socially conservative for Jews to be culturally progressive and Republicans too solidly supportive of Israel for Jews to find any other political home.” Yet, Jews vote overwhelmingly Democratic.

Some assume that Jewish Democrats don’t vote based on Israel, yet the poll results do not support this. According to the poll, if two candidates from opposing domestic sides have pro-Israel records and reputations, then the Democrat will most likely win by a landslide. In the case of a Democratic candidate who does not have a stellar pro-Israel record the support drops drastically. As Mellman said, “Support for Israel alone created a massive 42-point swing in the margin, clear evidence of the centrality of Israel to Jewish voters.”

Thankfully though, as noted Israel advocate Alan Dershowitz writes, Israel is not a right/left wedge issue in this country, so it is rare that a situation between a pro-Israel and anti-Israel candidate will occur. Furthermore, the Republicans have their own cast of anti-Israel characters, including best-selling author and perennial Presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) and right wing mouthpiece Pat Buchanan, who the Anti-Defamation League devotes an entire website to.

Mellman addresses the Jewish liberalism conundrum by proposing that Jews are motivated by the progressive and pluralistic nature of America, which historically has allowed Jews to flourish. It is clear from recent events that Republicans and Conservatives are attempting to change the progressive trend of America, thereby alienating Jewish voters. And as the GOP moves further to the right and becomes more fanatical, it seems less likely that Republicans will be able to gain more Jewish votes in the future.

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