There’s good news and bad news for President Obama in a new survey of American Jewish opinion released Thursday by the Workmen’s Circle. First, the bad news: Jewish voters favor Obama over Mitt Romney by about two to one — 59% to 27%, with 14% undecided. If undecideds follow the same 2-to-1 split, the result will be 68% to 32%. This points to a 10% drop from November 2008, when Obama got 78% of the Jewish vote, according to national exit polls at the time. The good news is that it’s not November yet, and if you compare June 2012 to June 2008, Obama is doing considerably better now than he was then. At this point in 2008 Jews were backing Obama by only 62% to rival John McCain’s 31%, according to Gallup’s tracking poll. Obama dropped further in July 2008, to 61-34, before beginning a steady rise in August. In fact, a surge might already be discernible this year, if we compare the Workmen’s Circle survey with a similar survey released two months ago, April 3, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute for the Nathan Cummings Foundation.
Is the Jewish tradition inherently liberal or inherently conservative? Leonard Fein examines the question through the lens of recent polling data.
Jews hold deep distrust toward Christian conservatives, a new poll showed. The gulf has remained wide despite the evangelicals’ growing public support for Israel.
It’s true, Jews are liberal on social issues and they back President Obama. But they also hold distinctly moderate-to-conservative views on issues of poverty and the economy, J.J. Goldberg writes.
It isn’t news that American Jews overwhelmingly support legalizing gay marriage. But a new survey out today puts that level of support at 81%, a few notches higher than previous polls.
JEWISH VOTE 2012: A new survey of Jews shows 62% plan to vote for President Obama, roughly similar to where he stood at this time four years ago
A survey out today confirms the sense many observers of the Tea Party movement have had regarding members’ religious leanings. The American Values Survey, conducted biennially by the Public Religion Research Institute, found that 47% of those who identify themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement also describe themselves as being part of the religious right or the conservative Christian movement.