Obama's problems with Jewish voters

[Tigermike 3,055]

Obama's problems with Jewish voters

THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL

May 12, 2008

As he moves closer to winning the Democratic presidential nomination, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Barack Obama has a huge problem winning the trust of Jewish voters, and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain knows it. On Friday, Mr. McCain criticized Mr. Obama for advocating unconditional talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last week called Israel a "stinking corpse" which is doomed to disappear. In October, Mr. Obama attacked then-Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for supporting a nonbinding Senate resolution declaring Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization — which it manifestly is. (The resolution passed the Senate 76-22 in September, winning the votes of almost half of Senate Democrats.)

On Friday, Robert Malley, an Obama advisor, resigned from the senator's campaign as reports surfaced that he had met with the terrorist group Hamas. Last month, Hamas political advisor Ahmad Yousef said on WABC Radio in New York that he hoped Mr. Obama would be elected president. Mr. McCain said Hamas would never want him to be president, "so if Mr. Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly."

Mr. Obama sternly rejected the Hamas endorsement, but the latest Gallup polls suggest he has a significant and growing problem in keeping Jewish voters in the Democratic fold. The latest Gallup polls show that in a contest with Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama would secure 61 percent of the Jewish vote to the Republican's 32 percent. In 2004 and 2006 elections, by contrast, Jewish voters favored the Democratic Party by a 75 percent to 25 percent margin. This suggests that support for the Democratic Party standard-bearer among Jews could be approaching its lowest levels in decades. The Republicans' best showing was achieved by Ronald Reagan in 1980, when he won 40 percent of the Jewish vote.

Jews comprise just 2 percent of the American population. But they could play a large role in a close election because they are geographically concentrated and are more likely than other groups to turn out to vote. States with large Jewish populations — such as California, New York, Florida and New Jersey — account for 128 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio also have large numbers of Jewish voters. Consider two states: Florida, a critical swing state, has 400,000 Jewish voters and Pennsylvania 200,000. In these states, a shift among Jews from one party to the other can determine the overall final result. This is part of the reason that Mrs. Clinton tried to position herself as a "centrist" in foreign affairs: voting in favor of the Iraq war in 2002 and talking tough about Iran. But she undermined her own credibility by stridently denouncing the war during this year's Democratic primaries and staking out a position to the left of Mr. Obama on withdrawing troops from Iraq.

As for Mr. Obama, the Iran and Hamas issues won't be going away. In the coming months, voters can look forward to pictures of Mr. McCain kissing the Western Wall during his March visit to Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition running campaign ads in South Florida titled "I Used To Be A Democrat."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/200.../134701177/1013

[WinCrimson 61]

Obama's Jewish "problem" translates into a 30 point lead, huh?

I'm really losing sleep over it.

[AU Mom 0]

He has Jewish voters?

[TexasTiger 13,029]

He has Jewish voters?

Twice as many as McCain. Oh no!

[RunInRed 16,492]

This one post is a perfect microcosm of your own stupidity and clearly demonstartes your lack of understanding of the political landscape. No Jewish person I know has a problem with Obama. To the contrary, I know many who are strong advocates for Obama. Simply put: this statement holds zero water.

Come November, Jews will vote Democratic in large numbers, as they always do.

I know you are trying to find any thing but posts like this really show your true colors, motives, and ignorance.

[autigeremt 6,717]

This one post is a perfect microcosm of your own stupidity and clearly demonstartes your lack of understanding of the political landscape. No Jewish person I know has a problem with Obama. To the contrary, I know many who are strong advocates for Obama. Simply put: this statement holds zero water.

Come November, Jews will vote Democratic in large numbers, as they always do.

I know you are trying to find any thing but posts like this really show your true colors, motives, and ignorance.

Not if one of their own, Independent Joe Liberman, rallies them behind McCain first.

Besides, it's pretty clear where Isreal stands with McCain after his most recent trip there.

I think Obama needs to worry more about the working middle class anyway. He's not on solid ground with this group who usually supports the left.

[Tigermike 3,055]

This one post is a perfect microcosm of your own stupidity and clearly demonstartes your lack of understanding of the political landscape. No Jewish person I know has a problem with Obama. To the contrary, I know many who are strong advocates for Obama. Simply put: this statement holds zero water.

Come November, Jews will vote Democratic in large numbers, as they always do.

I know you are trying to find any thing but posts like this really show your true colors, motives, and ignorance.

You would have nothing at all to say if you left out your ad hominem attacks would you?

Would you like to know what is wrong with the political landscape today? LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

This one post of yours clearly shows your stupidity and your complete and total ignorance of, hummmm well of anything worthwhile whatsoever.

For the record the only one showing true colors here is you. Your motives are plain and your ignorance is overwhelming.

Simply put: You are a dumb sonofabitch. Was that plain enough for you Obama Boy?

[RunInRed 16,492]

Barack Obama holds his own with Jewish voters, poll finds

Here's an interesting finding from Gallup pollsters: Almost as many Jewish voters say they would vote for Barack Obama for president against John McCain as say they would vote for Hillary Clinton in a matchup against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

According to Gallup, 61% of Jewish voters surveyed said they'd vote for Obama in the general election, versus 32% who say they'd vote for McCain.

That compares with 66% of Jewish voters who said they'd vote for Clinton to the 27% who said they'd vote for McCain.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington...k-obama-ho.html

Obama courts Jewish backing in Florida

By Mike Dorning | Tribune correspondent

May 22, 2008

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Barack Obama went to a synagogue in South Florida Thursday to pledge unwavering support for Israel's security as he sought to assuage Jewish concerns about his foreign policy views and strengthen his support within a crucial Democratic constituency in this swing political state.

The Illinois senator, the leading Democratic presidential contender, provided assurances of traditional positions on relations with Israel, promising an "unshakable commitment" to its security, praising the bond between the U.S. and Israel and declaring he would not negotiate with Hamas and Hezbollah, groups the U.S. considers to be terrorist organizations.

Obama parried concerns about his relationships with pro-Palestinian supporters and his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., warning his audience "to be careful about guilt by association."

But he also offered his barrier-breaking candidacy—and, implicitly, Jewish support for it—as a vessel to repair the sometimes-stressed bond between the Jewish community and African-Americans that was critical to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. That was an alliance that retains an emotional tug to many as a testament to selfless commitment to principles of social justice among American Jews.

"That sense of a common kinship of a people who have been uprooted, who have been on the outside, that strikes me as the very essence of what we have been fighting for," Obama said.

"I want to make sure that I am one of the vehicles by which we can rebuild those bonds," he continued, noting that he had spoken out on several occasions against anti-Semitism in the black community.

At B'nai Torah Congregation, a politically active synagogue in a liberal Democratic constituency, Obama received an enthusiastic reception from a mostly Jewish crowd of several hundred. He faced only a couple of unfriendly questioners—one of whom was booed by the crowd—and finished an unusually lengthy 90-minute town meeting to a standing ovation.

Familiar local political figures with deep connections to the Jewish community accompanied Obama to the synagogue to offer testimonials. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), the area's congressman and an early supporter of Obama, certified that the senator has an "A-plus record" on Israel's security.

Obama recounted a helicopter ride over Israel driving home the fragility of that nation's security and told the audience that on a visit to South Africa he had defended Israel's actions during Israel's internationally unpopular recent bombing campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Nobody can find any statement that I have ever made that is anything other than unequivocably pro-Israel," he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-cam...0,2475440.story