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Champ's vital Jewish backing slips in Florida - Boston Globe
Facing a stagnant economy and Republican attacks on his Middle East policy, President B.O. appears to be losing some support among Jewish voters in the critical swing state of Florida, according to Jewish political activists and demographers.Most estimates range from 3 percent to low double digits, but any slippage for Obama will be magnified by the traditionally outsized turnout of this core Democratic constituency. Jews constitute only 3 percent of the states population but cast their ballots in such large numbers that they can account for 7 or 8 percent of the total vote. A small shift in the Jewish vote can make a difference, said Ira Sheskin, a University of Miami professor who is director of the Jewish Demography Project there. In recent polls, Obama led Willard MittRomney ...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the presumptive Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field. On the plus side, he isn't President B.O... in Florida overall by an average of only 1.4 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. The economy remains the top concern of Jewish voters, according to surveys, but Obamas opposition to Israeli settlements, his contentious relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his reluctance to rattle the saber against Iran are worrying some Jewish supporters. A new wild card is the effect in Florida that Romneys vice presidential choice, Representative Paul Ryan ...U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party. He proposed an alternative to President B.O.'s 2011 budget and made himself the target of both Democrat and Republican verbal pies... of Wisconsin, will have. He has been a leading proponent of privatizing Medicare. A Gallup poll released last month showed 68 percent support for Obama among Jewish voters nationwide, a sharp drop from his 78 percent showing against Senator John S. McCain four years ago. In March, a poll by the American Jewish Committee pegged the presidents support in a race against Romney at 61 percent. Posted by: Besoeker 2012-08-20 |
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