“Only In America: The 2008 Jewish Vote ”

Aaron Keyak — November 7, 2008 – 4:11 pm | Democrats | Election 2008 | McCain | Polls Comments (0) Add a comment

Dr. Steven F. Windmueller, Dean of the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, wrote a great piece titled, "Only In America: The 2008 Jewish Vote "

Here's an excerpt:

Harry Golden, the political satirist, would marvel in his 1950’s essays and books on the uniqueness of this nation. Noting that “only in America” could certain events unfold. The 2008 Presidential election may represent one of those special moments.

Surprising both political analysts and senior Jewish leaders, Barack Obama was embraced by Jewish voters on Tuesday. In early exit polling provided by CNN and other polling organizations, President-elect Obama received nearly 78% of the Jewish vote. Such numbers exceeded John Kerry’s 74% performance in 2004.

Some may question the findings as provided by news agencies, especially in light of the intense and highly contentious campaigns waged by Jewish activists on behalf of both candidates. There appeared to be a necessary period of engagement by Jews with the Obama candidacy, as voters moved from a level of skepticism to a heighten level of comfort with the Junior Senator from Illinois. Similar to dating, the Jewish community needed the element of time and exposure to learn to embrace Barack Obama.

Earlier polling noted a significant disconnect with the Obama nomination that was followed by polling data issued by Gallup in October suggesting a higher degree of support for the Obama candidacy. Why did this happen? In some measure Jewish voters returned to their ideological home, the Democratic Party. A number of factors may have moved Jewish voters to reconnect with their political roots, including a level of frustration with the tenor of the campaign rhetoric, negative reaction to Sarah Palin’s presence and message on the Republican ticket, and the impact of an economy in crisis.

The rest of his article is certainly worth reading. Please click here to read on.

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