As a Jew, I’ve always found it curious when Republicans complain that more Jews don’t follow their “real interests” and vote for the Republican Party. I suppose it’s a reverse-Thomas Frank argument; Jews are disproportionately wealthy and so should vote Republican. Add in Bush’s staunch pro-Israel position and it should be a match made in heaven. The Republican Jewish Committee has been running ads in Jewish media for years now, making these exact arguments. And, well, it hasn’t exactly worked. We Jews are as Democratic as ever. Even more so than before.
The American Jewish Committee conducted a survey into Jewish voter ID and ideology and found that the percentage of Jews who identify as Democrats has actually jumped from 48 to 54 percent since 2002. Republicans now draw only 15 percent of Jews, compared to 18 percent in 2002. On ideology, liberals are now 42 percent of Jews, compared with 37 percent in 2002. Conservatives dropped from 29 percent to 25 percent.
Many co-bloggers and commenters on this site are Jewish, so we instinctively know that most Jews are Democrats and liberals, and why that is so. In fact, there is probably no other demographic group (including African Americans) who identify as liberal so strongly. The reasons are social, mostly. Jews are still committed to civil rights, the environment, women’s rights, and are generally dovish on foreign policy with the exception of Israel. But the biggest reason Jews cleave to the Democratic Party is the influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party. As much as top Orthodox rabbis break bread with Pat Robertson over Israel, the Jewish rank and file smell a rat. We know why Robertson and co. support Israel – they want us to move there so the rapture will come and we Jews will convert or die. Some Jewish leaders figure that the alliance between the Christian Right and Judaism is worth it if it means protection of Israel. But liberal Democratic Jewish politicians are no less pro-Israel than the Christian Right Republicans. Witness Chuck Schumer’s statements during the recent flare-up between Lebanon and Israel – about as hawkish as anybody in the GOP. But unlike the Tom DeLays, Schumer’s pro-Israel stance is taken as genuine support for the Jewish people and not as a precursor to a new Holocaust.
Any American Jew knows what it’s like to be a religious minority. We are reminded of it in casual jokes, at Christmas time, and in mixed company when we “pass.” For children, anti-Semitism is especially cruel, even for those who have only suffered it episodically. Still, being non-Christian in a country dominated by Christians who demand MORE Christianity in the public square makes us Jews even more resistant to join the GOP. We Jews may disagree amongst ourselves over Israel – Holly and I are about as polar opposite as you can get among Jews – but most of us feel that the modern Christian Right-dominated GOP is more hostile to us than the Democratic Party, even if it doesn’t alway suit our “economic interests.”