In the weeks and
months before the
election, neither
campaign has the
time of day for
Jewish voters.
That doesn't mean that Jews
are in danger of losing all their
political clout. Even as the voting
numbers have slipped, Jews have
become more important in the
campaign finance process. But
there too, fast-moving changes
could leave Jews behind in the
race for clout in Washington.
Measuring the impact of the
Jewish vote is part statistical
analysis, part educated guess-
work, according to Dr. Martin
Hochbaum, a political scientist
who works for the American Jew-
ish Congress and is a longtime
student of the Jewish vote.
"There are 4.4 million Jews
over the age of 18 in the United
States," he said recently. "Up to
87 percent of Jews say they are
registered — but we know that
some people will say they're reg-
istered when they aren't. The fig-
ure is probably closer to 80
percent — which means a max-
imum of 3.3 million Jewish vot-
ers in any national election."
Jews comprise some 2.5 per-
cent of the American population,
but 4 percent of the voting pub-
lic, participation that in the past
has magnified Jewish influence.
But Dr. Hochbaum agrees
with the widespread assessment
that Jewish voter turnout is drop-
ping dangerously, although he
said that precise statistics are
elusive.
Jewish leaders estimate that
between 800,000 and 900,000
voting-age Jews are not regis-
tered; many who are registered
no longer bother to visit a polling
place.
That decline already has had
an impact.
In the 1992 presidential con-
VOTER page 110
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Greg Neu rna ier
tion, are coming together to di-
lute the impact of the Jewish
vote.
"Overall, I sense a lack of en-
thusiasm that borders on disin-
terest — not just about the
elections, but even about the is-
sues," said Lynn Lyss, the former
president of the National Jewish
Community Relations C6uncil
and now a co-chair of the Clinton-
Gore Jewish Leadership Coun-
cil. "I find it hard to get people
exercised about any of the issues
that are of concern to our com-
munity ... The real danger [is] a
decline in our influence because
of a disengagement from the
process."