| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Election 2012 |
| Champ's vital Jewish backing slips in Florida - Boston Globe |
| 2012-08-20 |
| 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 state’s 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 Obama’s 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 Romney’s 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 president’s support in a race against Romney at 61 percent. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 60%? One has to wonder why the support is so high considering the nearly non-existent support of Israel and the support for its neighbors? However, down from 78% is great. Attrition from various Democratic leaning groups can make the difference. The youth vote is down, the Jewish vote is down, the African-American vote is down slightly and I have a feeling the women's vote is down too (despite the promise of contraceptives and abortions). The women's vote is far more complex than a couple of issues that appeal to young liberal women. Older citizens are starting to get antsy about their future as they get older. Throw in a few unions such as the coal miner's union and the Reagan Democrats that are still out there and we might have a surprise result in November. Ronald Reagan was behind Carter going into the election and it turned out to be a Republican landslide. The misery index was just too high then. Double-digit inflation and double digit unemployment. I think the economic indicators are even worse now--a true unemployment rate of 22-23%, cities in shambles, manufacturing that has gone to China, the destroyed housing economy, high gasoline prices, inflation, and nobody at the helm of the ship of state. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-08-20 17:10 |