Gallup: “Bush Will Be Hard-Pressed” To Win Jewish Votes
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: A report issued today by The Gallup Organization has found yet again that President Bush "will be hard-pressed to win the votes of Jewish Americans."
Today's Gallup analysis declares that "not a whole lot has changed" since a 2002 Gallup report, which found that "the Jewish tilt toward Democratic orientation is the most pronounced shift from the national average of any of the major religious groups in the country."
By aggregating poll data over time, Gallup reported today that "Jews are substantially more likely to identify themselves as Democrats than are members of any other major religious group in the country," with only 16 percent of Jews identifying themselves as Republicans. Gallup notes, "These patterns have remained extremely stable since the early 1990's." Furthermore, Gallup notes that their data "show Jews who identify as political independents are more likely to lean toward the Democratic Party than toward the Republican."
"The president's approval rating among Jews is substantially lower than it is among Protestants or Catholics," Gallup adds. Gallup found that only 39 percent of Jews in this analysis approved of Bush, while 59 percent disapprove -- a sharp drop from the 56 percent approval rating among Jews in Gallup's last report in September, 2002.
National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira Forman responded, "This is no surprise to us. Many Republican pundits have engaged in wishful thinking, hoping that some supposed political realignment is happening within the Jewish community -- but that's simply not the case, and there is no hard data to prove such a bogus theory. Moreover, because these Gallup numbers do not reflect the most recent downward trend in President Bush's approval ratings, one would expect his approval ratings today within the Jewish community to be even lower than the 39 percent Jewish approval rating contained in this report. The bottom line is that the non-partisan Gallup Organization today put yet another nail in the coffin of this debunked theory of realignment," Forman added.
Today's Gallup report concludes that "the data reviewed in this report continue to suggest that Bush will be hard-pressed to win the votes of Jewish Americans, given their continuing strong preference for the Democratic Party as well as their majority disapproval of Bush."
