September 15th, 2011
04:17 PM ET
How can President Obama save the Jewish vote?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Just what President Obama needs, another fire threatening to burn out of control.
The Democrats' loss in New York's special congressional election this week could signal serious trouble for Obama and the Jewish vote in 2012.
District 9, made up of parts of Brooklyn and Queens, is one of the most Jewish in the nation. And many believe that if the Democrats lost there, Obama could be in jeopardy in key states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It's nearly impossible to win a presidential election without those states.
The problem is, a lot of American Jews feel neglected by this president and think he has been too tough on Israel.
In the New York race, former Mayor Ed Koch – a Jewish Democrat – endorsed the Republican. Koch cited Israel as the main reason why. He says he likes the president and helped get him elected, "but Obama threw Israel under the bus."
And it's not just Obama's policy toward Israel. A recent poll shows that other issues that trouble many voters – like the economy, Social Security and Medicare – are more important than Israel among Jewish voters.
Republicans smell blood in the water here and will no doubt make Israel a wedge issue in 2012.
In 1980, Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic candidate to not get an overwhelming majority of the Jewish vote. All Obama needs is another comparison to Carter.
Obama's approval rating is about 60% among Jews nationally. In 2008, exit polls showed nearly 80% of Jews voted for him.
This makes Jews just one more group to start deserting Obama. He's also lost support among other key voting blocs like blacks, women and independents.
Posted by CNN's Jack Cafferty and posted unedited but cleaned up by Rin Tin Tin- JTFers comments welcome
Filed under: 2012 Election • President Barack Obama
Topic: How can President Obama save the Jewish vote? by CNN's Jack Cafferty (Read 649 times)