Sep. 21, 2004 22:45 | Updated Sep. 22, 2004 0:29
Poll: 69% of US Jews will vote for John Kerry
By JPOST.COM STAFF
jpost.com
Reports indicate that a new survey by the American Jewish Committee, scheduled to be released Wednesday, finds that only 24 percent of American Jews would vote for President Bush, while 69 percent would vote for Senator John Kerry.
The finding represents a remarkable 23 percent drop in American Jewish support for President Bush since last December, when an AJC poll found that 31 percent of American Jews would vote for President Bush at that time.
Due to the margin of error associated with polling, there is statistically no difference between AJC's finding of President Bush's support today and his support in 2000 among American Jews. Voter News Service exit polls found that then-Governor Bush received 19 percent of the Jewish vote in 2000.
"These reported poll results just confirm the numbers we found in our own polling last month, when an NJDC poll found that Jewish voters prefer Senator Kerry over President Bush by a 75-22 percent margin. These results show that Karl Rove and President Bush's political operation have failed miserably. They have worked mightily to court the American Jewish vote for three years, with all of the resources available to the President of the United States. Yet they have failed to measurably move the American Jewish vote," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman.
"Perhaps more importantly, our polling data indicate that the portion of President Bush's support within the Jewish community that is soft is much larger than Senator Kerry's 'soft support,'" Forman added. "And as the two AJC polls show, the trend is only working against Bush as Jewish voters weigh the positions of the candidates, and as the election draws closer. For example, the gap between Jewish support for the two candidates has dramatically widened -- from a 28 percent spread in Jewish support between the candidates in December (31 percent of American Jews supporting Bush, vs. 59 percent supporting Kerry) to a 45 percent spread today (24 percent of American Jews supporting Bush, vs. 69 percent supporting Kerry).
"We also have reason to believe that this survey actually understates American Jewish support for Senator Kerry. In polling, the traditional
'horserace' question (which candidate the voter prefers) is always asked at the outset of the poll. Yet in this poll, the question comes later in the poll, after a discussion of Israel, the war on terrorism, and Iraq -- issues which supporters of President Bush claim are his most favorable area among American Jews. This can only further advantage President Bush in this survey.
"The bottom line is that this poll further proves what we already know to be true -- that the vast majority of American Jews continue to support
Senator Kerry and the Democratic Party," Forman added. |
