From Marc Ambinder:
Gallup’s tracking finds that 61% of all Jewish voters would choose Barack Obama in a general election versus John McCain, only a smidge less than the percentage who would choose Clinton over McCain (66%).
Caveat: Jews have voted for the Democrat in much higher proportions — John Kerry took 76% of the Jewish vote; Al Gore took 79% of the Jewish vote.
What this suggests is that McCain attracts more than an average Republican’s share of Jewish voters — not that Obama repels him.
With all due respect to Ambinder who’s a talented reporter, I think he’s dead wrong on that last point. If he’d read my article in the latest NRODT, he’d know that it’s entirely likely Obama has real problems with Jewish voters. For some time now, many in the Jewish community been openly discussing the problems they have with Obama’s stance on Israel, as well as that of his advisors. And certainly his long association with former PLO spokesmen Rashid Khalidi isn’t helping. If McCain pulls down 39-40% of the Jewish vote in the election that would be remarkable — no Republican has done that since Reagan in 1980. Also, the Jewish vote could have serious electoral consequences. Aside from Florida, some three percent of Pennsyvania’s population is Jewish.