For Immediate Release
Contact: Jo-Ann Mort,
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New national poll: Economic justice drives Jewish vote
Jewish voters prefer President Obama 2:1
~Israel hardly a factor ~
Jewish voters prefer President Obama 2:1
~Israel hardly a factor ~
New York, May 31, 2012. Jewish voters prefer President Obama to Mitt Romney two to one according to a new national poll conducted by a team led by Professor Steven M. Cohen for the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring, a national Jewish cultural, educational and activist organization.
Among Jews, the Democratic President out-polls the Republican candidate by 59% to 27%, with 14% undecided. If currently undecided voters split similarly, President Obama would outpoll Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate, by a 68% to 32% margin among Jewish voters. The issues driving the Jewish vote according to this survey are economic justice, including regulating financial institutions, support for progressive taxation, and the argument that government should do more to help the needy.
Additionally, many more Jews believe President Obama shares their values than think the same of Mitt Romney.
“These are extremely significant polling numbers. They offer a snapshot of the American Jewish community regarding the values and issues that are the highest priorities, though these are not the issues that are front and center in our communal debate,” said Madelon Braun, the president of the Workmen’s Circle.
Liberalism Matters
In terms of their party identification, Jews are slightly more Democratic than the rest of the country, but they are far less often Republican, with many more Jews who are independents. Consistent with historic patterns, three times as many American Jews identify as Democrats as Republicans (34% vs. 11%).
But American Jews today are pointedly more liberal than the overall population, especially on economic issues traditionally considered social justice concerns.
For instance, to the question, how fair do you think our present federal tax system is, only 2% answered ‘very fair,’ while 46% answered ‘not too fair’ and 30% said ‘not fair at all.’ Sixty-five percent of American Jews support raising federal income taxes for people who make more than $200,000 annually.
Notably, 62% of those polled believe that the power of financial institutions poses a ‘major threat’ to the economic well being of our nation.
Additionally, 61% of those polled said that when they hear of a strike of a union against a large company, their first reaction is to ‘side with the union,’ while 39% ‘side with the company.’
Jews adopt a far more liberal stance than other Americans on a variety of social issues, as well. They are decidedly more supportive of gay marriage, and the legality of abortion, for example. About twice as many Jews as other Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all cases and favor same-sex marriage.
On defense spending, Jews are indeed less inclined to favor greatly increasing spending (9% of Jews vs. 19% of all Americans), and more inclined to greatly decreasing spending (Jews: 19%; America: 14%).
“Sentiments about the economy are still pivotal in how Jews self-identify politically, as illustrated in ranking to these questions, where traditional liberal sentiments are clearly delineated,” according to Cohen.
For the vote, Israel hardly matters
Significantly, neither attachment to Israel nor confidence in Israelis vs. Palestinians as peace seeking strongly factor into Jews’ presidential vote decision. This was among the findings of the survey regarding American Jewish attitudes toward Israel.
Obama voters and Romney voters do differ on Israel; Romney voters are more attached to Israel and more confident in Israel’s commitment to peace. However, these differences are totally explained by prior factors like religiosity and political ideology, than are the primary determinants of Obama vs. Romney preferences.
Background on the poll
The poll was commissioned by the Workmen’s Circle / Arbeter Ring. For more information on the organization, go to: www.circle.org.
Principal investigators were Professor Steven M. Cohen of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and Professor Samuel J. Abrams of Sarah Lawrence College and Stanford University.
The Washington office of IPSOS, under the direction of Dr. Alan Roschwalb, fielded the survey. Respondents included 1,000 American Jews, by Internet, who had previously agreed to participate in social research conducted by IPSOS. Survey was conducted April 19 – May 3, 2012.
The results were weighted to reflect the American Jewish population with respect to age, gender, regional distribution, educational attainment, marital status, intermarriage status, and Jewish parentage (none, one, two parents). They were also weighted to reflect registered voters.
The polling questions can be found here: www.wcsurvey.org.
About the Workmen’s Circle
The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring was founded in 1900 by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who sought to promote values of social and economic justice through a Jewish lens.
Over the past century, the organization has undergone significant changes in outlook and program, but has remained passionately committed to the principles of Jewish community, the promotion of an enlightened Jewish culture, and social justice. The Workmen’s Circle is now building a new national network of energetic, engaged Jewish learning communities to join its Signature Shules (schools), Camp Kinder Ring, and retreat and learning center, Circle Lodge, all connected by a shared passion to celebrate Jewish cultural heritage and collectively improve the world through social change activism.
“As this polling data shows us, the values that have shaped our own narrative as progressive Jews who care about economic justice fit squarely with the majority of American Jews,” said Ann Toback, national director of the Workmen’s Circle. “The renewed Workmen’s Circle is delighted to add to the American Jewish conversation with this poll. We look forward to future public education initiatives that will enhance and inform our communal discussion.”
The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that does not support or oppose candidates for political office.
Read more about the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring Survey:
Laser
Joel,
I am pleased to inform you that once and for all the Levy Report has clarified that legally there is no occupation. So your compassion has been misplaced and now you know!
Joel
American Jews “don’t care about Israel”? Yes, we certainly do. Do some of us also care about Palestinians? Yes. And do we care about the fact that Israel’s 45-year Occupation is both immoral and illegal? Yes.
Ira
It is more than distressing to see that American Jews just don’t care about Israel, except of course the Orthodox.
It appears that we have to look for support to the Evangelicals these days.
This does not bode well for the Jewish people.
Jeff
If true – that is, if the sampling is representative and the data is being interpreted correctly – this is encouraging. I thought Jewish Liberalism was all but dead.