The Jewish Electorate Institute, led by Jewish Democrats “committed to bettering our understanding of the Jewish electorate and encouraging civic engagement in the Jewish community,” on Wednesday published a survey showing two very important findings: one, only 63% of American Jews would vote today for President Joe Biden, who received 80% of the Jewish vote in 2020; and two, Israel is way down the list of priorities of US Jews when it comes to issues the president and Congress should focus on. Here’s the list of Jewish-American concerns, according to the survey (out of 800 Jewish registered voters):
Climate change ………………………………………………………… 29
Voting rights…………………………………………………………….. 28
Jobs and the economy ………………………………………………… 25
Health care………………………………………………………………. 18
Ukraine …………………………………………………………………… 13
Crime ……………………………………………………………………… 13
Guns ………………………………………………………………………. 12
Immigration ……………………………………………………………… 11
Education…………………………………………………………………. 11
National security ……………………………………………………….. 10
Social Security and Medicare…………………………………………… 9
Antisemitism………………………………………………………………. 6
COVID-19 pandemic ……………………………………………………. 5
Israel………………………………………………………………………. 4
Iran ……………………………………………………………………….. 3
Other……………………………………………………………………….. 4
The Democrats’ retreat with Jewish voters spreads to the entire political spectrum. Respondents were asked, “Thinking about the elections this November, if the general election for U.S. Congress were
being held today, for whom would you vote?”
Democratic candidate ……………………………………………….. 61
Republican candidate………………………………………………… 26
Another candidate……………………………………………………… 2
Undecided……………………………………………………………….. 11
Democratic candidate over Republican candidate ………….. 36
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks responded to the above scores, saying, “President Biden’s numbers are down everywhere because his presidency is a resounding failure. From Afghanistan to Iran to China, Biden’s foreign policy has been simply awful. At home, the historically high inflation rate, rising crime, the destruction of America’s domestic energy capabilities, and the botched response to the Covid pandemic have badly hurt American families. The Biden presidency has been a disaster for this country, and thoughtful Jewish voters are coming to realize that.
“The generic congressional ballot question in the Jewish Electorate Institute’s poll showed that Democrats are hemorrhaging Jewish voters – support for Democrats is down dramatically: -12% since last May.
“These results are especially striking considering that the questions and question order in JEI’s poll are skewed to produce pro-Democrat results. When a reliably Democratic outfit publishes a poll showing such an embarrassing drop in Jewish support for Democrats, you can just imagine what an unbiased poll of the Jewish community would show.”
But President Biden’s approval with Jewish voters remains far higher than his overall results. As of Thursday morning, the president’s job approval is stuck at 41.6%, with 52.1% disapproval. Jewish voters are way nicer to Joe:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?
Strongly approve………………………………………………………. 26
Somewhat approve …………………………………………………… 37
Somewhat disapprove……………………………………………….. 11
Strongly disapprove ………………………………………………….. 26
Total Approve…………………………………………………………. 63
Total Disapprove…………………………………………………….. 37
Approve over Disapprove……………………………………….. 26
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling the war in Ukraine?
Strongly approve………………………………………………………. 37
Somewhat approve …………………………………………………… 36
Somewhat disapprove……………………………………………….. 10
Strongly disapprove ………………………………………………….. 18
Total Approve…………………………………………………………. 72
Total Disapprove…………………………………………………….. 28
Approve over Disapprove………………………………………… 45
The heavily-conservative leaning Supreme Court is troublesome to many US Jews, with the most alarming concern being the war against legal abortions. I suspect both Republican and Democratic US Jews––75% of all respondents––are afraid of a court move to strike down Roe v. Wade:
How concerned are you that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal?
Very concerned………………………………………………………… 62
Somewhat concerned ……………………………………………….. 14
Not too concerned…………………………………………………….. 11
Not at all concerned ………………………………………………….. 14
Total Concerned……………………………………………………….. 75
Total Not concerned …………………………………………………. 25
Concerned over Not concerned ……………………………….. 51
What about Critical Race Theory? US Jews don’t seem so worried about it. Here’s how the survey presents it:
As you may know, there is a public debate over how public schools should teach American
history. Below are statements from Democrats and Republicans regarding this debate. Which statement comes closer to your own point of view even if neither is exactly right?
Democrats say we should not allow politicians to censor
teachers from teaching the complete facts about
historical topics like slavery and racism……………………. 68
Republicans say we should ban critical race theory in
our schools because it divides our country, teaches
kids to be ashamed of America and tells white kids
they should feel guilty…………………………………………. 27
Don’t know ………………………………………………………. 5
Democrats over Republicans ……………………………. 41
I encourage you to dig into the complete survey which was conducted between March 28 and April 3, 2022. There was at least one point I found very amusing: when asked about their preferred gender definition, only one preferred “other.” Then there was this:
How would you describe your Jewish denomination?
Reform……………………………………………………………………. 37
No particular denomination ………………………………………… 31
Conservative……………………………………………………………. 17
Orthodox ………………………………………………………………….. 9
Reconstructionist……………………………………………………….. 2
Other……………………………………………………………………….. 3
I’m not Jewish …………………………………………………………….-
Not sure …………………………………………………………………. 1
Which led me to speculate that perhaps the individual who wasn’t sure if they were Jewish might not have been similarly uncertain regarding their gender.
