Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

While this is definitely a real phenomenon within the Jewish electorate, the majority of Jews still back Democrats and will be voting for Obama. Perhaps less so than in elections past, but in no way have Jewish voters defected en masse to the Republican party or to McCain. An old Gallup poll during the primaries showed that Jewish voters preferred Obama over McCain by a 2-to-1 margin (61% to 32%). That may have shifted somewhat since then, but I doubt it's shifted so much that McCain is now drawing the majority. Incidentally that same poll found that they also preferred Hilary Clinton to Obama by a 50%-43% margin.

I thought, and could be wrong, that the Jewish vote typically went 75-25 and maybe a bit more left than that. Not saying all Jewish people have changed their ways, just that a lot of the ones that I know have. And, that is showing up in the polls. Obama has lost ~15% of their support while McCain has only gained 7%. It will be interesting to see where the other 7-8% that I assume are still undecided end up. If it goes 60-40, that would be a pretty significant difference statistically; if it ends up 70-30, not so much.

[Hungary Jack]

Palin saying in her Couric interview that she would never, ever second-guess Israel scares me a bit.

I think the Economist summed it up best by stating that Palin possesses only slightly more intellectual curiosity than George W Bush.

[Fan_In_NY]

While this is definitely a real phenomenon within the Jewish electorate, the majority of Jews still back Democrats and will be voting for Obama. Perhaps less so than in elections past, but in no way have Jewish voters defected en masse to the Republican party or to McCain. An old Gallup poll during the primaries showed that Jewish voters preferred Obama over McCain by a 2-to-1 margin (61% to 32%). That may have shifted somewhat since then, but I doubt it's shifted so much that McCain is now drawing the majority. Incidentally that same poll found that they also preferred Hilary Clinton to Obama by a 50%-43% margin.

I thought, and could be wrong, that the Jewish vote typically went 75-25 and maybe a bit more left than that. Not saying all Jewish people have changed their ways, just that a lot of the ones that I know have. And, that is showing up in the polls. Obama has lost ~15% of their support while McCain has only gained 7%. It will be interesting to see where the other 7-8% that I assume are still undecided end up. If it goes 60-40, that would be a pretty significant difference statistically; if it ends up 70-30, not so much.

As a Jew, I sometimes feel that the Republican Party has aligned themselves too much with the Religious Right and that is the reason why Jews lean towards Democratic presidents. I think that superseeds any slight difference at-the-stump views towards Israel between the candidates.

[jim]

We've been hearing alot about the fear factor in this campaign recently, the rallies that have been a little out of hand etc... It scares me, it really does. And I became really scared the day Palin was announced, because I knew the move was more to stir up the troops than to put the most qualified person forward.

I heard on CNN last night some Republican guy was saying 99.99 % of his supporters are good, patriotic Americans. Everyone on the panel agreed, even the Democrat guy. But they were just being PC, that number is not accurate. They showed a guy at a Palin rally with a poster that said (SARAH - Sensible Americans Revolting Against Hussein Obama). When the man was approached, he became visibly angry where I though the reporter was going to get punched. He told the reporter he was the first person at the rally to have a problem with his sign, and I believe him.

It's not 99.99%, or 99%, and I don't even know if it's 90%. I don't know what that number is, but it's low enough to where if I don't know you and you say you are a McCain supporter the thought enters my head... I admit it, I don't trust stranger McCain supporters. I know the great majority are patriotic Americans, but I also know there are a sizeable number of people that are mad because a black man with a funny name is going to be president. I know some very educated, white upper middle class people that have shared their feelings with me either in conversation or email, and it's just sickening to me.

I was so mad at McCain for stirring this up, and his hockey goon Palin for really doing the dirty work. It seems like maybe they recognized the danger of what they were doing and have toned it down, but McCain/Palin need to be as indignant with these racists non-Americans as they are with Obama and his "associates".

McCain could earn back every bit of respect that I had for him a few months ago and then some by telling these people flat out that they are not welcome in his campaign, and he doesn't want their vote. It's great that he took the mic away from some lady, and told another guy that he didn't need to be scared. But that's tip toeing around it, tell those people flat out to get the hell out of your rally and to take their friends with them.

[Hungary Jack]

The war metaphors and analogies are getting really, really old. John McCain is now vowing to "fight" for America (he used the term 18 times in a speech on Monday in his latest campaign reinvention effort) while Palin fires up the far right with her references to Obama as someone who is foreign and un-American. Put the two together and it's not a stretch to see pandering to fears of terrorism and other forms of xenophobia.

I cannot help think that the biggest threat this country faces is its own ignorance. I see a knee-jerk tendency to blame Washington insiders, foreign investors, greedy Wall Street bankers, Chinese workers earning $.25 per hour, etc. for our domestic ills. We'll blame anybody but ourselves for declining economic competitiveness, crappy public schools, a gluttony of consumption, and other failed policies. The whole thing is getting really old.

[heyzeus]

As a Jew, I sometimes feel that the Republican Party has aligned themselves too much with the Religious Right and that is the reason why Jews lean towards Democratic presidents. I think that superseeds any slight difference at-the-stump views towards Israel between the candidates.

I've had this argument with my dad many times.
Dad: "I'm voting for Bush because he supports Israel really strongly."
Me: "Dad, you know the neocons only support Israel because it's part of their Revelations deathwish. Israel has to be strong so that all of us Jews go back there, and once that happens the Rapture comes and all of us heathens go to hell."
Dad: "I don't care, all that stuff is make believe. As long as the bottom line is that Israel gets our support, I don't care."
Me: "But that means that they all think of us as doomed, inferior people. They only support Israel in the hopes that we all eventually go to hell. Aren't you afraid of what people like that really think about us?"
Dad: "Don't care. End justifies the means."

And that's why I think single-issue voting is always a bad thing. You have to look at the bedfellows you're making and the values you're implicitly endorsing when you do that. I support Israel and its right to exist. But I would never vote for someone who has that kind of worldview about me and my people.

[Tarver]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200810 ... tico/14564

I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised that I didn’t have the guts” to bring up Ayers, McCain said on KMOX, a St. Louis radio station.

“I think he is probably ensured that it will come up this time.”

[clevername]

I hope he does so Obama can intelligently refute it in front of tens of millions of people.

[lukethedrifter]

Briar patch, anyone?

[clement]

While this is definitely a real phenomenon within the Jewish electorate, the majority of Jews still back Democrats and will be voting for Obama. Perhaps less so than in elections past, but in no way have Jewish voters defected en masse to the Republican party or to McCain. An old Gallup poll during the primaries showed that Jewish voters preferred Obama over McCain by a 2-to-1 margin (61% to 32%). That may have shifted somewhat since then, but I doubt it's shifted so much that McCain is now drawing the majority. Incidentally that same poll found that they also preferred Hilary Clinton to Obama by a 50%-43% margin.

I thought, and could be wrong, that the Jewish vote typically went 75-25 and maybe a bit more left than that. Not saying all Jewish people have changed their ways, just that a lot of the ones that I know have. And, that is showing up in the polls. Obama has lost ~15% of their support while McCain has only gained 7%. It will be interesting to see where the other 7-8% that I assume are still undecided end up. If it goes 60-40, that would be a pretty significant difference statistically; if it ends up 70-30, not so much.

That sounds about right. Here's a recent article that suggests that the choice of Palin has hurt McCain with Jewish voters, while the choice of Biden has helped Obama.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/163348/page/1