What Jewish Vote?

Seriously, what is this Jewish vote that we hear about each election? You know, the one the Republicans are perpetually on the verge of attracting in big numbers, the one that instead keeps on voting for the Democratic ticket?

One place to start to understand the Jewish vote would be The American Jewish Committee's 2007 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion. It is divided into 5 sections:

A. International Affairs
B. Israel
C. National Affairs
D. Anti-Semitism
E. Jewish Identity

The National Affairs section, which deals with political affiliation, shows that 58% of Jews in the US view identify themselves as Democrats, while only 15% see themselves as Republicans (26% as Independent and 2% not sure).

No surprise there.

Now keep in mind how this compares with Jewish Identity:

34. How important would you say being Jewish is in your own life?
Very important	61
Fairly important	29
Not very important	10
37. How close do you feel to Israel?
Very close	30
Fairly close	40
Fairly distant	21
Very distant	8
Not sure	1
38. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew.”
Agree	69
Disagree	28
Not Sure	3

Pretty decent numbers that show just as the majority of Jews in the US consider themselves Democrats, so too do they consider Israel to be important to their being Jewish.

But then there is this:

19. In deciding who you would like to see elected president next year, which issue will be most important to you? Please select one of the following:
War in Iraq	16
Economy and jobs	23
Terrorism and national security	14
Health care	19
Support for Israel	6
Immigration	6
Education	4
Energy crisis	6
Not sure	5

The talk only goes just so far. For many, identification seems to go only so far--a convenient, touchy-feely abstraction. We're only talking about rating priorities here--not about making Aliyah or giving big bucks. Yet for all the talk of Jewish identification, support for Israel--at a time when she is arguably facing the most dangerous threats and strongest pressure--does not seem to rate with American Jews, most of whom are voting the Democratic ticket.

The question is: how Jewish is the Jewish identification we are talking about here.
And how Jewish is the Jewish vote that Democrats and Republicans are fighting over.

Technorati Tag: Israel and American Jews and Jewish Vote.