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Jews And
The 2012 Election

Noted journalists from JTA discuss this year's likely Jewish vote.

Attendees' Comments

Comments were submitted anonymously.
Here is a sampling of the comments and
questions raised:

HIM
'1211111111

"Isn't it fact that Romney said on his
`private tape' that he would do nothing
about the Middle East because he said
it was 'hopeless'?"

"I am a strong supporter of Romney
and his stand that Israel cannot con-
tinue without strong U.S. support for
peace. Obama doesn't want to make
that same commitment?'

Ami Eden, JTA's CEO and editor-in-chief, speaks to a crowd at
Temple Israel.

Jackie Headapohl

Managing Editor

A

group of about 175 interested
voters came to Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield on Oct. 10 to
listen to two staff members of JTA, a
global news source of breaking news,
investigative reporting, in-depth analysis,
opinion and features on current events
and issues of interest to the Jewish people.
Arthur Horwitz, publisher and execu-
tive editor of the Detroit Jewish News,
moderated the discussion, which was
sponsored by the Jewish Community
Relations Council.
Ron Kampeas, JTA's Washington bureau
chief responsible for coordinating cover-
age in the U.S. capital and main writer of
Capital J, a blog of Jewish political analy-
sis, as well as Ami Eden, JTAs CEO and
editor-in-chief responsible for overseeing
all aspects of the agency's operations,
spoke about the Jewish vote in this year's
presidential election and compared it with
previous elections.
The Democrats still enjoy the major-
ity of Jewish voter support, and although
Jews, as a group, are liberal, they are
"different shades of liberal," said Eden.
"Democrats do well with Jews on eco-
nomic issues but not as well on national
security issues."
In this year's election, the economy is in
the forefront of Jewish voters' minds, with
more than 60 percent naming it as their
top issue, according to the latest survey of
Jewish voters. What Eden found surpris-
ing, he said, was that only 4.9 percent cited

32

October 18 2012

JTA's Washington bureau chief Ron Kampeas, speaks from
the podium. Ami Eden and JN publisher and executive
editor Arthur Horwitz sit on the panel.

Israel as their top issue. He found that sta-
tistic to be puzzling.
"I know a lot of Jews who feel if the can-
didate is dead wrong on Israel, or abortion
or church and state, then they won't sup-
port that candidate," he said. "It's hard for
me to believe that Israel isn't a threshold
issue."
President Obama's current level of
support is trending about the same as it
was in 2008, when he ended up with 79
percent of the Jewish vote. However, his
support among Orthodox Jews was only
at 40 percent in the last election, pos-
sibly because of shared values with the
Republican party primarily on the issue of
gay marriage, Eden said.
The current political climate is mired in
polarization, Eden added. "We live in an
era where political differences are tense
and bitter. People on the left act as apolo-
gists for the bad things within their own
party; people on the right do the same
thing."
The middle is a very lonely place to be,
and the polarization is making it difficult
for people to come together and work to
advance things forward. The deep differ-
ences, Eden said, are "not as deep as you
might think:'
"I very rarely meet a liberal Jew that
doesn't care about Israel," he said. "And I
very rarely meet a right wing Jew who's
happy to see Arab children get killed?'

Importance of Jewish Vote
Jews have a greater influence in politics
than their demographics would suggest,
according to Kampeas, particularly in

swing states, such as Ohio or Florida, that
could change the course of the election's
outcome.
According to Kampeas, about 10 percent
of Jewish voters are undecided in Ohio, a
state each party desperately wants to win.
That translates into 19,000 votes, a num-
ber that could help propel either Obama or
Romney to victory.
Consequently, Jewish voters are being
heavily courted by both sides. Democrats
are emphasizing their perceived strengths
among Jews, mainly the economy,
health care and domestic issues, while
Republicans are emphasizing their policies
on Israel.
Perceptions of tensions with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have
dogged Obama, Kampeas said. "The prob-
lems are not one-sided however," he said.
"Netanyahu shares some responsibilities
for the strained relationship?"
Romney has had good relationships
with Jews, especially during his time
as governor of Massachusetts, when he
reached out to the interfaith community
while championing sweeping health care
reform that became the prototype of
"Obamacare." Romney's long-standing
relationship with Netanyahu (they worked
together during the 1970s) is another plus.
The evening culminated with a ques-
tion-and-answer session. Audience mem-
bers submitted cards with their questions
and comments to the panelists. From audi-
ence comments (see sidebar), it's apparent
that the political polarization of which
Eden spoke was evident in the people who
came out to listen to the program.

'As long as both candidates and
Congress recognize and embrace mutu-
ality of interests, American Jews will
continue to skew Democratic?'

"Romney has ignored Holocaust sur-
vivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie
Wiesel's request for Romney to 'talk to
his [Mormon] church and tell them to
stop' performing posthumous proxy bap-
tisms on Jews, including Jews who died
in the Holocaust. But Wiesel's appeals go
unanswered?'

"President Obama's actions and
words have sent the wrong message
that he leans toward Palestinian Arab
interests and positions. Many feel that
this has thrown Israel under the bus.
Hasn't this impacted declining support
among Jewish voters?"

"How do we know what Romney
believes? It changes daily."

"The left wing (most Jews) have
demonized Romney and called him a
murderer, liar and felon. Is that type of
demonization a display of Jewish values?"

"Although Obama may show 'anger'
about anti-Israel actions in the world,
he shows no leadership in working with
global leaders and telling them to get
their countries in control and stand
down on anti-Israel sentiment. Obama
is too weak to support Israel?'

"In spite of the tension between
Netanyahu and Obama, I understand
from good sources that Obama gave
more money to Israel than any other
president:'