What is the obsession from Republicans with the Jewish voting block?


Ragerancher's avatar
I've been reading various articles around the web about the US elections and various reports about the demographics of them (such as Romney appealing most to your typical WASP male whilst Obama held favour with minorities and women.) One thing that strikes me as odd though is the amazingly disproportionate amount of attention that is paid to how Jewish people vote. Fox for example (yes that fine news source) stated that every Democratic president who has secured under 70% of the Jewish vote has lost. I guess the fact that Obama got under 70% and won makes that rather pointless. However the Jewish block makes up 2% of the population and is mostly Democrat leaning. To put things in perspective, the black vote is 6 times as big and the hispanic vote 7 times.

Republicans make a lot of effort to secure the Jewish vote through being overly-dedicated to the security of Israel despite Netanyahu stating Israel can defend itself. This all despite Jewish people consistantly voting more for Democrat by large margins and making up a tiny protion of the voting population. It seems especially odd when you consider they make minimal effort to attract the next 2 voting blocks.

So what is it with Republicans and this completely disproportionate obsession with the Jewish block, Israel and trying desperately to win the favour of a group that has consistantly voted against them?
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OuroborosCobra's avatar
Jews make up 3.4% of the Florida population, a state with 29 electoral votes that Republicans lost by less than one percent. Getting more of the Jewish vote could have tipped the scales. They male up 1.3% of Ohio, 2.3% in Pennsylvania, similar "high" marks in other swing states.

The American Jewish population is not evenly distributed, so just calling it "2%" of the voting block is a bit misleading. In many Republican stalwart states that the GOP did not need to worry about this time around, the Jewish population is very low. For example, Jews make up 1.2% of Virginia, but only 0.1% of West Virginia. Jews are 0.6% of Texas.

I think the GOP thought that they could win enough of the Jewish vote to tip the very tight scales in swing states. They thought that would be easier than getting Hispanics they alienated during the primaries or who weren't necessarily relevant to a swing state like New Hampshire. As a Jew supposedly getting pandered to... it came off as entirely transparent bullshit. I went to Israel in 2011 and was lucky enough to meet with Ron Dermer, Netanyahu's chief advisor. He outright said that the business of Obama hurting the relationship with Israel was a load of baloney, and that military ties between the two were stronger than ever. I saw evidence of that during this election; a headline about Obama being the worst president for Israel was followed by a headline about the largest joint US-Israeli military exercise in history. Seeing as Obama is the commander-in-chief of the US military...

The there was the constant refrain from the Romney campaign that Iran was "four years closer to a nuclear bomb." What does that even mean? Yes, four years on the calender went by, but the same is true about every other country on Earth. It implied a lie, that the Obama Administration and Israel had done nothing in that time. Economic sanctions have crushed the Iranian economy, half the time their centrifuges break when activated due to American and Israeli cyber attacks, and key Iranian scientists haven't had the best life expectancy.

American Jews have traditionally had strong ties to other minority groups and causes. Jews helped found the NAACP, it was a Jew who funded the Harlem Globetrotters, Jewish sports reporters were amog the few to cover great players in tue negro leagues like Satchel Paige, and the respect they had from white players like Joe Dimaggio. My own grandmother has spent her realty career fighting redlining so that Hispanics can get homes in better neighborhoods, while at the same time preventing them from using things like subprime loans that targeted poorly educated minorities.

The Republicans badly pandered to Jews, and failed utterly with minorities.
Ragerancher's avatar
It does seem rather bizarre to target a small portion of the voters, even in swing states and to dedicate so much effort into getting just a fraction of their votes. Less effort aimed at other larger groups would surely be the more logical choice.

Ultimately though it's good to hear that the Jewish people don't fall for the pandering.
Dkalban's avatar
High five my fellow Jew!
OuroborosCobra's avatar
Damn tablet touchscreen keyboard! So many typoes.
rockstar1009's avatar
Silly Republicans. They know better, what with the Jews controlling Hollywood and the Liberal Media and all. :no:
Dkalban's avatar
Well, speaking as a Jew...

1. We're smarter than the average Republican (why do you think only one Jew in Congress is GOP)

2. We can tell BS when we see it

3. Their "love for Israel" is conditional. Some want all the Jews there so Armageddon is triggered; others want Israel there because they are racist bastards who hate Arabs. Some are just pandering while they hate our guts.

4. We think the GOP is insane. We can deal with some insanity (ie. our natural neurotic tendencies); not GOP level nuttery.

5. Most of us Jews side with most Israelis in the fact WE CANNOT STAND THE SETTLERS OR NETANYAHU! Netanyahu allied himself with fanatics and is close to turning a secular state into a theology (something the Tea Party wants to do here)

In the end, like most goyim groups in history; they just want our money as they smile, and when we turn they will stab us in the back. Only with the GOP, we Jews would only be one group of victims.
Cenaris's avatar
Because the jews own hollywood and the banks. I surprised you didn't know that.
AlGideon's avatar
Its seen as low hanging fruit that if one can just appeal to it correctly you can get it.

In other countries Jews have become far more conservative and more evenly split. So far its the US alone where the Liberal Jewish voting bloc has stayed. And the RNC keeps hoping they can pick them off, it just hasn't worked yet... likely never will unless the DNC totally throws the Jewish vote under the bus.
WadoIchimonji's avatar
In other countries Jews have become far more conservative and more evenly split. So far its the US alone where the Liberal Jewish voting bloc has stayed.

I don't think that's exactly true. In the UK Jewish voters lean quite strongly towards the Labour Party, only really voting Conservative as a majority when it was Margaret Thatcher running and Labour were practically unelectable.
AlGideon's avatar
Hmmm, I could be mistaken.

I've read though its mainly in countries where the Israeli-Arab conflict boils over into politics. I.E. A political party takes the side of the Arabs that the Jewish vote swings against that party. Generally its left leaning parties that swing that way in the vote. I don't think the Labor party is generally anti-Israel in politics and platform?

In the US, I think the GOP is that the Code Pink crowd takes over the DNC messaging and swinging the platform into an Anti-Israel bent thus forcing the Jewish vote into Republican hands.
Poopgoblyn's avatar
As someone who is Jewish...I haven't really felt like the Republican party in particular has been reaching out towards me. And as far as I can tell, both Democrats and Republicans support close military, and economic ties with Israel. Neither is Israel the center-point of all Jewish politics.

Jews tend to vote Democrat and more liberal for reasons that are fairly alien to me. Maybe it does have to do more with the Democrat party having a broader appeal to minority religions than the Republican. I am not sure.

One reason I think that they do want to secure the Jewish vote is because Jews tend to be in the upper-wealthier crust of economics, and, tend to donate quite considerably to campaigns that they believe in. Maybe.
Abstract-Mindser's avatar
Haven't you noticed? Most of them are white rich christian males who bought into the worthless tripe that their parents had been taught, and their antiquated parents were taught without question, critical thought, or scientific investigation Israel is sacred to them, and not only is the sacred cow being threatened, but also the "unquestionably" of what they had been taught.

Consider: Most of us are familiar with the Apple Menu/the finder or the Start Menu and the desktop. With Windows 8, the design has looped around to what users of Windows 1.0 or DOS Shell, except those were functional. They're asking users like me to give up 20+ years of function in the name of trying to compete in an entirely different league when they could have kept a comfortable hold on the market without trying to monopolize it. Apple on the other hand, like the smarter religions, have taken things that have already existed, and improved upon them. iOS is just a cellphone menu extended into infinity; and OS X uses the basis of well known Linux kernels. There is less to learn when switching to Apple and Linux than there is to Windows 8. Judaism is the Windows of Religion: Dominant, unreliable overall; with items having to be built to suit it instead of being able to work from a core base, and unchanging for anyone; instead it only changes its image to suit only itself.

Its rather strange. Now that Apple become UNIX based, its more akin to a Linux now, more in harmony with a wide market, and a growing one. Will 'Abraham' systems adapt? Unlikely.
EbolaSparkleBear's avatar
The Jews do not vote Republican because they know the reds are war hungry and war with Iran gets Israel put in the crosshairs.

Also, remember, religion and politics are one and the same for the right wing. The far right loonies fervently believe that if Israel somehow "falls" the end of the world begins.
The wrap their stupid superstitions around everything.
If we allow gay marriage god will get mad at the country:rofl:
Dkalban's avatar
Exactly :)

So sayeth Daniel Ben Zalman ;)
dregs-of-humanity's avatar
There is alot of powerful jewish zionists amongst the neo-conservative movement that run think tanks, are massive political donors or have positions as government advisors. Its nothing to do with gaining the jewish vote as the average jew has always generally leaned to the left.

Mentioning this is a great way of being instantly branded an antisemite whilst getting one person in agreement who then goes on to state something about ZOG and add a joke about jew noses.
YTcyberpunk's avatar
I didn't know about that Jewish vote issue. But I have experienced conservatives trying to win me over with the Jewish card (by comparing Obama to Hitler, or abortion to the holocaust, or things like that). Sometimes I get the sense that Jews are their pet minority; they'll say bigoted things about homosexuals, atheists, and Muslims, and then assure me that they're so supportive and accepting of Jews (as if that would win my favor). Maybe Judaism is just "close" enough to their beliefs for them to tolerate it, or something like that. Whatever the reason they do it, it certainly doesn't work on a lot of us. More American Jews vote democrat than republican (though I understand that it's quite close to 50/50.) Most of the Jews I know tend to vote democrat, even the very wealthy ones.
Dkalban's avatar
Plus I'd rather stand with the gays, atheists and the Muslims than with the GOP. For one its a much more fun group.

Secondly, we are all groups usually being attacked by nutjobs like the GOP

Thirdly, Obama, Hitler? No; Hitler was right wing; the MORMON was Hitler if anything in this race (and even thats a fucking stretch)
Shidaku's avatar
It comes from Christianity claiming that the Jews are the chosen people and that they need to be in their homeland, and for their homeland to contain "all" of whatever it was in order for the Second Coming to happen. So, basically it's just to prove how Christian they are.
Dkalban's avatar
Which is to say, not at all.