Why American Jews Voted for Barack Obama

We know that while defeat is an orphan, victory's illegitimate fathers come out of the woodworks like cockroaches to claim paternity, but the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) claiming credit for Barack Obama's election? That's almost as credible as John McCain saying that he does not regret picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.

RJC executive director Matt Brooks has written that his group "helped the Jewish community get clear answers" on "critical issues like our troubled economy, the threat of a nuclear Iran, continued Hamas violence against Israel and the need for energy independence." Nonsense. Throughout the campaign, the RJC engaged in ugly fear mongering by attempting to smear Obama as a shadowy associate of anti-Semites and terrorists. The group's ads were so offensive that the Obama campaign refused to debate surrogates of the RJC, opting instead to share platforms with representatives of the more above-board McCain operation which, to its and John McCain's credit, stayed away from subliminal but blatant racist messages.

Brooks disingenuously argues that "Obama was unable to exceed Bill Clinton or Al Gore, and only slightly improved on John Kerry's support in the Jewish community." A more realistic assessment is that American Jews overwhelmingly rejected the RJC's propaganda designed to scare them away from Obama and instead remained true to their traditional ideals and values.

In fact, the expensive RJC ad campaign does not appear to have changed anyone's vote, giving new meaning to the Yiddish accounting term, aroysgevorfen gelt (thrown out money). The Republican base has a solid base of around 10-11% of the Jewish community - the proportion who voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964 against 90% for Lyndon Johnson, and for George H.W. Bush in 1992, against 80% for Bill Clinton and 9% for Ross Perot. This core group will vote Republican regardless of who is on the ballot.

Similarly, there are those Jews who will always vote Democratic - the 45% who voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980, against 39% for Ronald Reagan and 15% for John Anderson; or, more charitably, the 64% who voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988 against 35% for George H.W. Bush, the 67% who voted for Walter Mondale in 1984 against 31% for Reagan, or the 65% who voter for George McGovern in 1972 against 35% for Richard Nixon.

In other words, a controversial Democrat like Carter or McGovern will lose a chunk of traditional Jewish voters, and a highly popular Republican like Reagan can attract them. No great surprise there. Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom many Jews credited with liberating Nazi death camps, received 36% of the Jewish vote in 1952, and 40% in 1956.

But the 2008 results resemble those of more conventional, less extreme election years. John F. Kennedy in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and Bill Clinton in 1992 received, respectively, 82%, 81%, and 80% of the Jewish vote, without any concerted, high profile attempt on the part of Republican Jewish operatives to depict them as dangerous, radical or disloyal. In 1996, Clinton won 78% of the Jewish vote - same as Obama this year; Al Gore won 79% in 2000, with Joe Lieberman on the ticket; and John Kerry 74% in 2004.

In other words, just about the same proportion of American Jews voted for Barack Obama as have historically supported mainstream Democratic presidential candidates. And John McCain's 22%, while better than Richard Nixon's 18% in 1960 and 17% in 1968, or Bob Dole's 16% in 1996, was in the same general ballpark as George W. Bush's 19% in 2000 and 24% in 2004, and not all that much lower than Gerald Ford's 27% in 1976.

What does this all mean? For starters, that the American Jewish community for the most part is smart enough to recognize and disregard unsavory scare tactics. Also, most American Jews are mainstream progressive, with a highly developed social conscience. They support civil and human rights. They are generally pro-choice, especially since even the strictest Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law require an abortion when the mother's health is at issue. They believe that protecting our environment is a good thing, and have spent too much money on their children's college tuition to dismiss science as somehow godless. They are, by definition, not fundamentalist or evangelical Christians, which means that Sarah Palin turned them off for many of the exact same reasons that she energized the Republican base.

The Republican attempts to depict Obama as less supportive of Israel than McCain had no traction because they were so obviously without foundation. Obama has had a longstanding close relationship with the Chicago Jewish community, and he has a consistent record of strong, unwavering support for Israel. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch reflected the instincts of most American Jews when he said, "Take it from me, I know. I know Israel would be protected by an Obama-Biden administration."

If the Republicans want greater Jewish support in the future, they will have to stop pandering to what they erroneously believe to be our fears, and instead move politically and ideologically in our direction. Barack Obama received the support of 78% of American Jews because his values are our values, his principles are our principles, and his goals for the United States are our goals, too.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft, a lawyer in New York City, is the Founding Chairman of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, and a former National President of the Labor Zionist Alliance

Comments

[betz55]

If Mr Obama is really interested in "change" we can believe in then he needs to "change" the same old rhetoric, and dogmatic, unquestioned, unconditional support of Israel. Level the playing field and be an honest broker of the "change" he is espousing. Obama is no fool but it sounds like AIPAC is doing their best to bias Obama to be an Israel firster.

I will be proud of the day when the President can put the interest of America before the interest of Israel and not be crucified for it. It's a shame that American politicians are selected, not on their commitment to the best interests of America, but by vowing to put the interests of a foreign nation, Israel, first. The oath of allegiance that I said everyday in school was not to Israel, or any country but America.

A true "friend" of Israel would tell them they need to end the occupation of the West Bank, stop repressing the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinians, and stop warmongering. The time has come for the US to stop pandering to Israel and it's destructive, belligerent, failed policies.

Israel is the biggest welfare client in the world. Their aid will be cut and they will have to learn to be nice to their neighbors and end their apartheid oppression of the Palestinians. Obama will smarten up.

[SethBLiNK]

Because we're smart.

The shortest answer is usually the best answer.

[acudoc]

Israel is not the 51st State. We should not choose sides in this complicated struggle for turf. No more military aid to Israel or to any Arab country. Both sides are going to have to come to terms with this festering boil of their own creation without our involvement. Period.

[Tweet]

There are three kinds of Jews who will vote Republican: those for whom money is everything, those for whom Israel is everything, and those who are dumb enough to believe, for example, that Obama is a Muslim.

As to the first, there are not many of those.

As to the second, most are extremely religious and hard right, and a perfect fit for Republicanism.

As to the third, there are less of those than in any other racial, social or religious grouping other than Asians.

For those for whom Israel is important but not everything, whether or not they should have voted for Obama depends primarily on whether they see peace or power as the best guarantee of Israel's security.

Obama, I suspect, will choose peace. I think he will put some pressure on Israel to enter into serious negotiations toward a final Mideast resolution. I don't think he will want to support the settler movement. What I don't know is how far he will go toward acting on his beliefs.

On the other hand, McCain would have continued Bush's "Israel right or wrong" policies. So if you believe guns and nukes will be enough to secure Israel, and that peace is an utter impossibility, you should have voted Republican. I think. We'll see.

[boing007]

For those of you who are not familiar with this story from the 1930's on The Jewish Question:

http://christianactionforisrael.org/antiholo/evian/chapter4.html

[annschneider1]

It was all about money and power. I cannot tell you how many times I wrote the Republican Jewish Coalition and told them they should be ashamed and that we Jews are better than that. I know people in that organization....believe me, they are basically out for themselves, not for the environment or the typical "working person" in THIS country. They don't care about our world. They are not a part of it.

[tbone99]

At its core Judaism concerns itself with real life issues and not the afterlife.It has a wonderful commitment to doing good deeds that will make the world a better place. You don't even have to believe in the same God or any god to practice these core values of Judaism.
Given these values , was there really any choice?

[robiform]

There is a phrase in Hebrew "tikkun olam" which means "repair the world". That means the world we live in NOW, not some afterlife that may or may not exist. Many people who believe that the so-called "end time" is not too far off use that belief to justify things like total exploitation of the earth's resources with no regard to future generations. We've had eight years of government according to this cockamamie idea, and most Jews like myself were not willing to let our planet be subjected to more of the same, especially by that fount of scientific knowledge, Sarah Palin!!

BTW, I think that Matt Brooks, the head of RJC should win an award for Chutzpah of the Year for claiming credit for so many Jews voting for Obama. Hey, Brooks, I saw some of those ads the RJC ran before the election--all I can say is, "liar, liar, pants on fire"!

[Badbone]

There is another phrase. "Is it good for the jews?" It means that in whatever dealing you have, from business to voting, consider if it will benefit the jews.

Obviously the jews thought that Obama would be good for the jews. His vice-president sure has been. And given the fact that every single candidate appeared before AIPAC to pledge their support for Israel, I'd say they were all good for the jews.

[Pupadup4oBama]

embarrassingly enough, I know one of the people who worked on that ad.
He said the statements were true, but the way he said it indicated he knew they were twisted to make Obama look bad.
To actually have the gall to say they helped Obama win the election among Jews!!???
Ughhh, I have even less respect for this guy than I did before.

[gsbdaveg]

American Jews voted for Barack Obama because we know a mensch when we see one!

Mensch (Yiddish מענ×"ש mentsh): "a person of integrity and honor" "an all-around good guy"

[jeanrenoir]

Thank God for the reliably liberal values of the large majority of American Jews, who came through yet again, in helping elect Obama. As these liberal Jews well understand, the neocon policies of Lieberman and McCain have been a disaster for Israel as well as America throughout the Bush years. Obama will not "protect" Israel the way the fool neocons have in Iraq, and wanted to continue to do, by having McCain to bomb Iran for Israel. Obama will truly protect Israel by helping create peace in the region, fulfilling the best values and instincts of Jewish ethical tradition.

[KickerBoard]

Nice one! You're right, he is a mensch! :-)

[gaebolgaes]

thank you very much mensch. for most of my life i have offered wondered why jews would associate themselves with the "dry septemberists" in the republican party. i wondered the same thing about hispanics.i often asked jews and latinos...what have blacks ever done to latinos and jews that they would hate us so much? we have always sympathized with latino and jewish issues.many of us blacks believe that the bible tells us that jews..and arabs . started out as black people. now...after this past election i only wonder about the catholics and "dry septemberists".a thought...if jews and hispanics had voted together for al shatpton and jesse jackson...obama would be the 3rd black president.

[jmundstuk]

Yup!

[jimzy]

Thank you for the article. Israel is safer but more isolated than ever. I am hopeful that Obama will initiate a paradigm shift to reduce the infectious nature of the open wounds that has poisoned any rational dialogue since the assassination of Rabin. Whatever happened to diplomacy?
Sometimes history presents an opportunity and I think it is here now.
Iran needs $90 a barrel oil to meet its budget. Hello, it's 60 going to 40. Foreign investment in Iran as disappeared and most external purchases must be made through Dubai through middlemen charging a 10 to 20% facilitation fee.
Hamas is isolated and could tread water for generation without a resolution of the dispute.
The West Bank is run by Arafat's bagmen and command no respect.
Syria would give up plenty to get back the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah is nothing without Iran and Syria.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to structure a comprehensive peace plan for permanent peace in the Middle East. Okay, I'm a dreamer. But I must confess I am Irish I can tell you that the British Irish free State peace treaty of the 20s pleased no one at the time, and of course it was imperfect, but it was, like democracy, a hell of a lot better than the other alternatives.

[chaos4700]

Your understanding of the Middle East is decidedly lopsided and simplistic. Not to sound condescending but there aren't enough words allowed in a comment for me to explain what I mean... but suffice it to say, Israel only exists because it is useful to England and the US in specific ways. If you don't believe, do some research. I recommend you start by looking up just how much cash the US government forwards to the Israeli military.

[dadw5boys]

What all of you are missing is the Saudi's spending millions ot keep the focus on every thing and anyone else but them.

They dominate the regaion by keeping it in conflict.

[spiritintosoul]

The Jews came back home to the Democratic Party. But they never really left. Palin sealed that deal.

[ArchAngel]

Can we please hear from and about America's many other racial minority groups?

Please?

How about the many Native Aboriginal tribes for instance?

[chicagomike]

The New York Times published a great interactive map after the election showing the vote in every single county in the U.S.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

If you look at the counties where Native Americans are in the majority in such states as Arizona and South Dakota, you will see that they voted OVERWHELMINGLY for Obama.

This isn't a White America, or a Black America, or a Red America...it is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

[ArchAngel]

Excellent! Thank you!

[boing007]

This isn't a White America, or a Black America, or a Red America...it is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Um, excuse me, the guy was making a point...he's a blogger - bloggers write about things they know. Get over it.

[CatfishJohn]

...those jews of the secular and cosmopolitan mindset are and have always been moved by the black civil rights struggle..it is in "our" music (e.g. dylan), our favorite white politicians (e.g. the kennedys, wellstone) and in our inclusive outlook. but this is juxtaposed to a degree of almsot reflexive allegiance - much like the right wing christians- among orthodox and highly traditional jews to the odd notion that republicans express a "closer to god's principles" ethos, even in the face of their demonstrable hardly judaeo-christian demonstrable actions of greed, deceit, intolerance, divisiveness etc. so, a large number of more highly religious jews remain as blindly, incongruously loyal to the republicans in spite of their myriad failings and failures. they simply will never identify or empathize with the black struggles of the 20th century as similar to their own .

[Altalena]

The fact that American Jews voted overwhelmingly for Obama is a great example of how contrary to stereotypes we can be has stupid as anybody else.

[indyleftist]

American jews have historically been the most left wing of any voting block, And that carries into today
So for example in the senate, Feingold, Boxer, Wyden, Wellstone, and Levin where some of the few Senators to vote against the Iraq war. And Sanders voted against it in the house and is now in the senate. So the war mongering is quite lost on this voting block it seems to me.

As far as Israel, I think most american jews like myself very much resent when people interchange the words "Jew" and "Israel." There are more jews in New York than there are in Israel
And right wing Likud politics don't represent all the people of Israel anyway

Personally I am always upset by the pandering from both parties, I want to hear the words "Honest Broker" not "we will never second guess Israel"

[hrhkat]

actually your wrong about their being more jews in new york the isreal. Isreal has like 6 million jews, and the entire US has around 5.5 million....so your off...but good try

[indyleftist]

No, I am not wrong
Although the numbers are very close
USA 7,000,000
Israel 5,600,000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population

[Garioch]

What you are looking for is the largest concentration of Jews in a metropolitan area outside Israel. Not quite the same thing.

[indyleftist]

No, I'm saying that there are more jews here in the USA then in Israel. And its true

I'm not quite sure about New York anymore having the most of any place, it used to be that way but I suppose there has been a been of a migration of older jews to Florida and Arizona over the last 20 years.