Legal Commentary

Obama's Jewish Support

By Jeralyn

Sen. Barack Obama has received the endorsement of three leading Jewish newspapers:

• Detroit Jewish News
• Los Angeles Jewish Observer
• Washington Jewish Week

Here's a very moving video by Israelis who support Obama.

More...

8% of Florida's voters are Jewish.

George W. Bush got an estimated 19 percent of the Jewish vote in 2000 and may have won as much as 25 percent in 2004. Republicans have sought to exceed that percentage this year. Even a small fluctuation could be significant in a state that was famously decided by 537 votes in 2000.

As for the polls:

A Gallup poll released on Oct. 23 had Sen. Barack Obama winning 74 percent of the Jewish vote in the presidential race, up 13 points from July.

A Quinnipiac University poll released the same day has Obama beating out Sen. John McCain among Florida Jews by more than 3-to-1.

Both candidates had outreach efforts to Jewish voters.

But McCain’s efforts to woo Jewish voters seemed to take a blow with his nomination of Sarah Palin, which spawned a second round of news stories — these about elderly Jews who were now grudgingly planning to vote for Obama. Between Palin and the burgeoning economic crisis, McCain’s poll numbers among Jewish voters appeared to take a late tumble.

By the time the election rolled into view, Republican proclamations about the Jewish vote had become more muted, and many observers suggested that, predictions to the contrary, the Jewish vote would not be seen as radically different from those of past years.

Forbes says Sarah Silverman's The Great Schlep made have had an impact.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 03, 2008 (boomark / email).