Obama has lost half of his domestic Jewish support

[Einzige]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137449

United States President Barack Obama has lost nearly half of his support among American Jews, a poll by the McLaughlin Group has shown.

The US Jews polled were asked whether they would: (a) vote to re-elect Obama, or (b) consider voting for someone else. 42% said they would vote for Obama and 46%, a plurality, preferred the second answer. 12% said they did not know or refused to answer.


In the Presidential elections of 2008, 78% of Jewish voters, or close to 8 out of 10, chose Obama. The McLaughlin poll held nearly 18 months later, in April 2010, appears to show that support is down to around 4 out of 10.

The poll showed that key voter segments including Orthodox/Hassidic voters, Conservative voters, voters who have friends and family in Israel and those who have been to Israel, are all more likely to consider voting for someone other than Obama.

Among Orthodox/Hassidic voters, 69% marked 'someone else' vs. 17% who marked 're-elect.' Among Conservative-affiliated voters the proportion was 50% to 38%. Among Reform Jews, a slim majority of 52% still supported Obama while 36% indicated they would consider someone else. Among Jews with family in Israel and those who had been to Israel, about 50% said they would consider someone else, while 41%-42% supported Obama.

Fifty percent of the Jewish voters polled said they approved of the job Obama is doing handling US relations with Israel. Thirty-nine percent said they disapproved. “This rating is not good for a group of voters who are 59% Democratic to only 16% Republican,” the poll's analysis noted.

Frankly, I regard this news as excellent. If American Jews take their cues from Lieberman and co. and begin to disaffiliate with the Democratic Party, then there is hope that the Democratic Party will cease to function in foreign affairs as an attaché to the State of Israel.

[Omega18]

Frankly the poll looks extremely dubious though to put it mildly.

From another recent poll on the subject from April.

The American Jewish Committee poll of U.S. Jews found that Obama's approval rating is at 57 percent, with 38 percent disapproving...

Despite the drop -- and weeks of tensions with the Netanyahu government -- Obama still polls solidly on foreign policy, with a steady majority backing his handling of U.S.-Israel relations, according to the AJC poll.

http://jta.org/news/article/2010/04/12/ ... -on-israel

The problem is "consider voting for someone else", DOES NOT mean they won't actually vote for Obama when you get down to it. Its a frankly strange phrasing which I've pretty much never seen used. (The problem is people may say they would consider voting for someone else, even if they are reasonably satisfied with Obama but would prefer someone different in an ideal world.) It suggests some people may be not that thrilled about Obama's performance so far, but he's not exactly likely to see a serious primary challenge, and in many cases the voters will presumably decide Obama considerably beats the alternative when you get down to it.

The other point from the poll is many Jews are perfectly willing to accept a US policy which pressures Israel on the settlement issue to a certain degree.

[General Zod]

Frankly, I regard this news as excellent. If American Jews take their cues from Lieberman and co. and begin to disaffiliate with the Democratic Party, then there is hope that the Democratic Party will cease to function in foreign affairs as an attaché to the State of Israel.

It won't ever happen, because Israel is the biggest ally the US has in the ME.

[Illuminatus Primus]

U.S. support for Israel has more to do with intrinsic U.S. foriegn policy interests (at least elite ones, if not those in the interest of the general public) than it does with some all-powerful Israel Lobby than compels irrational support for Israel against the better sense of elite sectors of U.S. society.

[eyl]

I'd take this with a grain of salt, considering the source (INN is decidedly right-wing)

[Temujin]

I'd take this with a grain of salt, considering the source (INN is decidedly right-wing)

Exactly, its the same bullshit they were pulling with health care. Those polled who didn't like the bill because it didn't go far enough at providing reform and single payer were lumped in with those who just didn't want reform.

In this case its: Obama's poll numbers are down, thus everyone is going to vote against him, hence you must vote against him because he's going to lose. They are so fricken childish.

[Ariphaos]

A lot can happen in two years. The sky could part, and the second coming of Thomas Jefferson could arrive to guide this nation to greatness once more. Alternately, the Republican party could get an intellectual revival, and we could see a return to Ike-era conservatism. I'm not sure which is more likely, but I certainly would consider voting for some fantasy candidate other than Obama.