Is the headline of an article in the Jerusalem Post
According to Marcel Groen, the head of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, 17 percent of the 560,000 registered voters are Jewish, with the overwhelming majority registered as Democrats.
"We have a disproportionate say" in the outcome, said Groen, who is active in the Jewish community.
JPost
Hillary had a good showing in Maryland
Hillary Clinton won 60 percent of the Jewish vote in Maryland’s Democratic primary, but Barack Obama won overall.
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In Maryland, with the exception of Catholics, where Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) enjoyed a slight advantage, 48 percent to 45 percent, Obama won among Protestants and voters describing themselves as "Other Christian" — the largest single religious voting bloc in the state. Nonreligious voters also favored Obama.
Overall, Obama won 59 percent to Clinton’s 37 percent. With easy victories Tuesday in Virginia and the District of Columbia, Obama for the first time has taken a lead in the delegates count.
Maryland
The JPost article goes on to cite a young woman who is leaning towards Clinton:
Sarah Feldman is a 20-year-old University of Pennsylvania sophomore who is supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton because she believes Clinton is the "best one" to move the country beyond George Bush, the only president she has known in her lifetime.
"She's the one who will be prepared and she's the one who has solutions" on everything from health care to student loans, Feldman said last week, listing her top issues while staffing a table adorned with Clinton literature outside a Jewish outreach event in Philadelphia.
And a mature lady who supports Obama, reversing the conventional understanding of the demographic split (Young Americann women suport Obama, mature women suport Clinton)
For Nancy Feinberg, 82, the election is also "all about change," but she is casting her lot with Barack Obama.
"I like what he says about everything," said Feinberg as she welcomed volunteers at an Obama campaign office in suburban Philadelphia.
The Jewish vote, has trended republican in Presidential elections since 1992, following a high for Reagan of 40% in 1982. Downticket democrats still are overwhelmingly supported by the Jewish vote. In PA in 2006, Santorum aggressively courted the Jewish vote on the basis of a pro-Israel stance.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a conservative Roman Catholic, is also looking for a boost from the Jewish vote in his uphill campaign for reelection. Trailing in the polls, Santorum has seized on the explosion of Middle East violence to emphasize years of support for Israel and many of the state's 280,000 Jews, who live mostly in and around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
He recently brought state Jewish leaders to a series of private meetings in Washington with top Republicans, including presidential national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. He blasted his Democratic opponent, Bob Casey Jr., for failing to speak out forcefully enough in defense of Israel. "At a critical time in the America-Israel relationship, when you are a candidate for one of the hottest Senate races in the country, you have an obligation to step up and speak into this moment," Santorum said in an interview. Instead, he said, Casey shows "weakness."
How did that work out, Rick?
Washpost
The Jerusalem Post commenters are interesting, too.
- Swing vote
This Jewish Democratic voter is going for McCain
Eugene - USa (04/09/2008 18:54)
An early advocate, Josh Shapiro, is taking some criticism, for his support of Obama.
We have a disproportionate say" in the outcome, said Groen, who is active in the Jewish community.
If the suburbs go for Clinton, "she'll win and win big," said Groen, another superdelegate who is outspoken in his support for Clinton although his committee has not endorsed anyone.
Otherwise, he said, "the drum roll will continue for Obama."
That would be a good thing in the view of Josh Shapiro, the deputy speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Shapiro, who introduced Kennedy at the party gathering - Kennedy, in turn, called Shapiro a "rising star" in the Democratic Party - is one of Obama's most active Jewish supporters in Pennsylvania.
He was the lead signatory of an open letter to Jews in Pennsylvania seeking support for the U.S. senator from Illinois. While the letter garnered nearly 70 signatures, it lacked mainstream political and communal leaders, a fact not lost on Shapiro, who recognizes he is bucking the political mainstream.
- Shapiro voting against himself
That Shapiro had forgotten Mr. Farrakhan and other friends of Mr. Obama who hate Jewish. I have read in the internet some comments which say, that they want change in the white house and that means getting rid of the people who are friends of the Jewish. Unwillingly Mr. Shapiro may be starting a movement that eventually will grow and start the demise of the Jewish people again. I t seems to me he is voting against himself and confusing people to go along with him. Shapiro remember Mr. Hitler, he brought a lot of change, he was around people who hated Jewish too. Remember the past.
alice - usa (04/09/2008 19:03)
Andy G sez:
- Obama would be worse than Carter
There is nothing in Obama's record (such as it is) which shows that he will be a true friend of Israel, and, in fact, whatever indications there are show to the contrary. If I were voting in the PA primary, I'd have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary. Nevertheless, McCain is far more qualified than Obama and Clinton put together to serve as commander in chief, and I have no doubt that Israel will be safer with McCain as president.
AndyG - Virginia (04/09/2008 20:05)
Steven seems to agree.
- #1, Don, is completely right. When will American Jews dump the Dems?
The American Jews' Dem sickness continues. Neither Obama nor Clinton has any military experience; and neither one, especially Obama, can handle the world we live in. John McCain offers military experience and tested courage as well as a clear, realistic view of the dangers that America no less than Israel faces today. It's time to realize that FDR is dead and gone and that the Left is now openly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. Wake up!!!
Steven - US (04/09/2008 17:17)
So, dear readers, whaddya think? Is the Jewish American electorate addressable as a monolithic entity, or do they deserve a more directed nuanced message? How best do we prevent defection of conservative voters to republican canbdidates? What platforms would resonate? The Santorum play for support for ISrael's military policies didn't resonate well against CAsey among this segment. What's happening?