The New York Times takes a look at Jewish voters in Florida — traditionally, among the most reliable Democratic voters — who are not persuaded to jump on the Barack Obama bandwagon.

Mr. Obama is Arab, Jack Stern’s friends told him in Aventura. (He’s not.) He is a part of Chicago’s large Palestinian community, suspects Mindy Chotiner of Delray. (Wrong again.) Mr. Wright is the godfather of Mr. Obama’s children, asserted Violet Darling in Boca Raton. (No, he’s not.) Al Qaeda is backing him, said Helena Lefkowicz of Fort Lauderdale (Incorrect.) Michelle Obama has proven so hostile and argumentative that the campaign is keeping her silent, said Joyce Rozen of Pompano Beach. (Mrs. Obama campaigns frequently, drawing crowds in her own right.) Mr. Obama might fill his administration with followers of Louis Farrakhan, worried Sherry Ziegler. (Extremely unlikely, given his denunciation of Mr. Farrakhan.) South Florida is “the most concentrated area in the country in terms of misinformation” about Mr. Obama, said Representative Robert Wexler, Democrat of Florida, the co-chairman of the Obama campaign in the state.

More seriously, the Times notes, “Many here suspect Mr. Obama of being too cozy with Palestinians, while others accuse him of having Muslim ties, even though they know that his father was born Muslim and became an atheist, and that Mr. Obama embraced Christianity as a young man. In Judaism, religion is a fixed identity across generations.”

A moment ago on XM’s POTUS 08, I heard Michael Barone at an AEI event mentioning Obama does exceptionally well in upper-income counties with one exception: Counties with high populations of Jewish voters. He noted that George W. Bush carried about 25 percent of the Jewish vote in 2004; Barone said it would not surprise him if McCain carried 35 to 40 percent. His closing comment, as I recall: “A candidate whose pastor calls Louis Farrakhan one of the most important figures of the 20th and 21st century… that’s a tough sell.”