Are Jews Converting to Republicans?

It seems clear that, come November 7, hundreds upon thousands of Jews will be violating the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not vote Republican. The portents are readily available for all to see. Though Nixon received approximately 15 per cent of the votes cast by Jews in 1968, a recent New York Times poll of the tristate area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) showed Jewish voters splitting in the following proportions: Nixon 33 per cent, McGovern 47 per cent, undecided 19 per cent. Beyond the polls, several prominent Jewish leaders have endorsed the President’s re-election bid. Contrary to most political endorsements, these are significant. They lend an aura of respectability to voting Republican. Their value is attested to by the recent warnings of Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, and David B. Blumberg, president of the B’nai B’rith, that American Jewish leaders should refrain from endorsing candidates for the Presidency. Strangely, the wisdom of political neutrality was never apparent all the years that only Democratic aspirants were being favored.

To test the accuracy of the polls, I asked a friend, a lawyer both active in and knowledgeable of political goings on: “How is McGovern doing?” “Well,” he responded, “I’ve asked a lot of people, Jews and non-Jews. One out of two who voted for Humphrey in 1968 tell me they are voting for Nixon.”

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Edward S. Boylan

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It seems clear that, come November 7, hundreds upon thousands of Jews will be violating the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not vote Republican. The portents are readily available for all to see. Though Nixon received approximately 15 per cent of the votes cast by Jews in 1968, a recent New York Times poll of the tristate area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) showed Jewish voters splitting in the following proportions: Nixon 33 per cent, McGovern 47 per cent, undecided 19 per cent. Beyond the polls, several prominent Jewish leaders have endorsed the President’s re-election bid. Contrary to most political endorsements, these are significant. They lend an aura of respectability to voting Republican. Their value is attested to by the recent warnings of Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, and David B. Blumberg, president of the B’nai B’rith, that American Jewish leaders should refrain from endorsing candidates for the Presidency. Strangely, the wisdom of political neutrality was never apparent all the years that only Democratic aspirants were being favored.

To test the accuracy of the polls, I asked a friend, a lawyer both active in and knowledgeable of political goings on: “How is McGovern doing?” “Well,” he responded, “I’ve asked a lot of people, Jews and non-Jews. One out of two who voted for Humphrey in 1968 tell me they are voting for Nixon.”