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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (159)	12/16/2001 3:37:03 AM
From: ajs	Respond to of 6945

Poll: Bush a hit among US Jewish voters By Melissa Radler NEW YORK (December 16) -- Impressed with his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and wowed by his unwavering support for Israel, US Jewish voters are switching allegiances away from the Democratic Party to President George W. Bush, according to a new poll commission by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). The poll, which surveyed 400 registered Jewish voters from November 28 to 29 and has a margin of error of 4.9%, shows Bush's approval rating among Jews at 80% -- four times the percentage of Jewish votes he received in November 2000. In a proposed rematch of Elections 2000, Bush was shown to double his share of the Jewish vote to 42%, compared to 39% for former presidential candidate and past Jewish favorite Al Gore. Nearly 50% said theyÕd consider voting for Bush in 2004, a figure that jumped to 61% among voters age 18-39. US Jews also appear to support Bush's domestic agenda, with 44% giving him a thumbs up on domestic issues, and 42% stating their support for the administration's economic policies. "For the first time the Jewish community is taking an honest, real look at a Republican president and they are liking what they see," said RJC executive director Matt Brooks. Bush administration officials received high marks, with 79% for Secretary of State Colin Powell, 76% for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and 54% for Attorney-General John Ashcroft. Noting that the approval ratings seen in the poll reflect general American approval ratings for Bush, Frank Luntz, whose Luntz Research Companies conducted the poll, said, "Bush's performance has completely transcended partisanship, it has transcended gender, so why shouldn't it transcend religion?" Among the factors Luntz attributed to Bush's soaring popularity among Jewish voters is his performance after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the waning influence of the Christian Coalition in the Republican Party, and his support for Israel, including his boycott of the United Nations World Conference on Racism, his refusal to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and his inclusion of Palestinian terror groups in the fight against terrorism. Two thirds of respondents said they approve of the way Bush has handled US-Israel relations. When asked about the problems and concerns facing the US today, just 1% of respondents cited Israel -- a finding Luntz attributed to the community's confidence in Bush's Middle East policies. Half said terrorism is their biggest concern, followed by the economy (12%) and Afghanistan (5%). "For the first time since Ronald Reagan's second term, the Jewish community is finding things it likes about a Republican president, and that can only be good news for other Republican candidates," wrote Luntz in the survey. He noted that New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan are two Republicans who have received strong Jewish support. But just 27% of those polled said that Bush's performance will make them more likely to vote for other Republicans. A slightly higher number -- 28% -- said Bush's performance will make them less likely to vote Republican in the future. Republican voters are shown to back Israel in higher percentages than Democratic voters, according to a Qunnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. The poll, which surveyed 1,237 registered voters from November 29 to December 5, found that 62% of Republicans back Israel and 9% back the Palestinians, compared to 47% for Israel and 17% for Palestinians among Democrats. The poll has a margin of error of 2.8%. jpost.com