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Last update - 19:29 03/11/2008
Sarah Silverman was wrong: Older Jews more likely to vote Obama
By Brett Lieberman, The Forward
Tags: barack obama, Jewish world 

Washington - Comedian Sarah Silverman has gotten a lot of mileage out of the notion that older Jewish voters, especially those in Florida, need to be persuaded to support Senator Barack Obama. Yet as it turns out, those bubbes and zaydes may be the ones prodding their grandchildren to support the Democratic nominee for president.

Contrary to the perception that young people are in the bag for Obama, polls indicate that younger Jewish voters are more likely than older Jews to support Republican Sen. John McCain for president. This surprising finding most recently turned up in an October 23 analysis by Gallup polls that showed growing support for Obama among all Jews, who for a long time had been cool to the Democratic nominee.

That survey, compiled from the monthly averages of Gallup's daily tracking polls, including interviews with more than 500 Jewish registered voters each month, found that while 74% of Jews aged 55 and over were supporting Obama, only 67% of those under 35 said they'd vote for the Democratic nominee.
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"It's counter intuitive," said Lydia Saad, Gallup's senior editor.

But this finding does fit into other data showing that younger Jews are trending conservative politically. A study of the 2004 Jewish vote by the Solomon Project, an effort to record Jews? civic involvement, found younger voters were slightly more likely than older Jews to support Republican George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry. That analysis found 23% of voters under 30 voted for Bush, compared to 20% of those ages 45 to 60 and 17% among the 60-plus crowd.

This finding doesn't come as much of a surprise to voters like Zach Hanover, a 19-year-old sophomore at The George Washington University who plans to vote for McCain when he casts his first ballot. Hanover, an Orthodox Jew reared in Memphis, where his father, a Democrat, would drag him to rallies with Bill Clinton and Al Gore, said his decision to be a Republican was an easy one.

"I just made a bullet list - abortion, taxes, spending, size of government - almost word for word it was the Republican platform," said Hanover, adding that the traditional values he shares as an Orthodox Jew fit well with the values embraced by the GOP. "If you look at the biblical liturgy, the Judaic religion is about life.|

Much of the evidence pointing to Republican growth among younger Jews remains anecdotal but fits with the broader demographic trends that Hanover illustrates. Orthodox Jews represent the fastest growing segment of the Jewish community. They have more children, tend to be younger and more conservative politically than less observant Jews. Moreover, the Russian Jewish community, which also trends on the young side, is also overwhelmingly more politically conservative. Voters who are more religiously observant, regardless of denomination, tend to support more conservative political candidates.

"When you add that up, the two most Republican segments of the [Jewish] population are younger," said Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University professor who has studied the Jewish vote.

These more conservative younger Jews are frequently more free-market oriented, less tied to the big government New Deal programs such as Social Security that older generations of Jews embrace, and more hawkish when it comes to national security and Israel.

That's certainly the case for Michael Hershkop, a 20-year-old junior at Yeshiva University, who attended a debate there on Tuesday evening between College Republicans (very well represented) and College Democrats (a far smaller group). "To me, the two most important things are foreign policy and the economy. Right now I'm with McCain," said Hershkop.

Within the younger demographic is another interesting trend: a gender gap. Jewish women of all ages voted more heavily for Kerry in 2004 than did Jewish men, and that gap was even more pronounced among younger voters. A full 88% of young Jewish women chose the Democratic candidate, compared to only 60% of young Jewish men.

"I know people feel that Obama isn?t good on Israel, but if you look at his voting record and everything he said, it only suggests a completely supportive attitude towards Israel, so I'm confident on that, and I think he can help the economy," said Adina Pouko, 20, a junior from Milwaukee, who also attended the Y.U. debate.

And, she continued, "I think that there needs to be a very strong separation of church and state in this country, and I think that when you extend the Christian religion into this country, you get into scary territory. I don?t want the government intervening in any of that."

But while younger Jews may favor McCain more than their older relatives, Jewish voters of all ages remain considerably more supportive of Obama compared to their non-Jewish peer groups.

Polling data provided to the Forward from Gallup's daily tracking surveys showed that 67% of Jews ages 18 to 34 supported Obama compared to only 57.1% of their non-Jewish cohorts in polling from September 1 to October 21. Only 29% of Jews supported McCain, compared to 36.9% of non-Jews in that age group.

And with age, the difference between Jewish and non-Jewish voting patterns widens. The 10-point gap between Jews and non-Jews supporting Obama doubles among voters ages 35 to 54 (68.1% of Jews to 46.8% of non-Jews) and becomes a 30-point margin among older voters, with 74.2% of 55-plus Jews supporting Obama compared to only 44.5% of non-Jews.

With additional reporting by Lana Gersten in New York.

Related articles:
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  • New Gallup poll shows 75% of U.S. Jews plan to vote Obama

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      1.   Duh. Nothing inherently Jewish about the Democrats! 20:02  |  Jewish State 02/11/08
      2.   vote G.O.P. 20:07  |  Shmuelshachor 02/11/08
      3.   What about normal Jews 20:34  |  Ash 02/11/08
      4.   Wow, Ash such hate and hypocrisy 21:00  |  David G 02/11/08
      5.   Are these Jews neo-Liberals or real conservatives 21:32  |  Zev Davis 02/11/08
      6.   Agree with Ash 22:31  |  Joe 02/11/08
      7.   Zev, what you`re describing is.... 23:48  |  Harry 02/11/08
      8.   We`ll see the stats in 3 days 00:15  |  Steve G 03/11/08
      9.   to harry in NY on #7 00:24  |  Shmuelshachor 03/11/08
      10.   trending conservative politically? 02:11  |  hollingsworth 03/11/08
      11.   This 20-year-old American Jew completely disagrees. 04:29  |  T Siegel 03/11/08
      12.   Conservative Make More Sense 05:13  |  Eli 03/11/08
      13.   Do conseratives make more sense 05:32  |  Victor 03/11/08
      14.   Fundies of the World Unite!!! 05:36  |  marc 03/11/08
      15.   Obama victory disaster for Jews 06:04  |  Brian 03/11/08
      16.   # 11 and other young people--don`t be swayed by rhetoric 06:09  |  US CITIZEN 03/11/08
      17.   Obama: ?I?ll make energy prices skyrocket?! 07:34  |  Fear and desaster 03/11/08
      18.   If California Jews are any indication.... 10:47  |  MS 03/11/08
      19.   Fear, how where did you get your information? 10:55  |  Zev Davis 03/11/08
      20.   THE OLDER KNEW ABOUT THE "LIMIT" 11:04  |  indrajaya 03/11/08
      21.   its natural selection, evolution 13:05  |  g. lee 03/11/08
      22.   #3 - ONLY ORTHODOX JEWS ARE NORMAL 15:05  |  Barry S. Roffman 03/11/08
      23.   So what??? 15:18  |  Aaron 03/11/08
      24.   Lost tribe for Obama 15:42  |  Gene 03/11/08
      25.   #19 Zev Davis....the San Francisco Chronicle 16:04  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      26.   #10 hollingsworth....polls are always skewed to some degree 16:08  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      27.   #23 Aaron...yes, the Catholics were polled 16:10  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      28.   Reply to T. Siegel (Post No. 11) 16:11  |  Johnny Weintraub 03/11/08
      29.   #14 marc.....a lot seem to feel they are losing 16:13  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      30.   To T. Siegel 16:33  |  Gene 03/11/08
      31.   #3 - HOW TO BE A NORMAL JEW IN DENVER 16:49  |  Barry S. Roffman 03/11/08
      32.   Lynn, in Northern Califronia . . . 17:14  |  Zev Davis 03/11/08
      33.   73% vs. 65%-- no big deal 18:06  |  David 03/11/08
      34.   #32 Zev Davis....the point is not the use 18:44  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      35.   McCain supporters woke up yesterday 19:22  |  Greg 03/11/08
      36.   I actually understood her act 20:00  |  SnowSM 03/11/08
      37.   #3: don`t use Torah or bible? 20:08  |  Paul Freedman 03/11/08
      38.   OBAMA 20:20  |  MARTA 03/11/08
      39.   Brian from Seattle 20:20  |  Sonny 03/11/08
      40.   Indy text book racist 20:37  |  Dr Noam 03/11/08
      41.   remember 1939 and other good years 20:48  |  Sam 03/11/08
      42.   indrajaya 20:53  |  Emma 03/11/08
      43.   Eli in Atlanta #12 20:57  |  Persian Kitty 03/11/08
      44.   obedience-this is for jews forever? 20:59  |  Ben 03/11/08
      45.   T Siegel & Johnny Weintraub 21:12  |  Persian Kitty 03/11/08
      46.   Let`s cut the bull? they`re Americans! Religon is jewish! got it. 21:27  |  JAMES 03/11/08
      47.   My Mother was Right All Along-Tales from a Jewish Childhood 21:31  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 03/11/08
      48.   Obama 21:34  |  David Duke 03/11/08
      49.   #43 Persian Kitty....it`s not over till it`s over 21:56  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      50.   #44 Ben...time to be an Indepedent thinker 22:00  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      51.   #49 Lynn 22:15  |  mike 03/11/08
      52.   Dr Noam @40 22:24  |  mike 03/11/08
      53.   Lynn 22:49  |  Persian Kitty 03/11/08
      54.   It`s really not so much about Israel ... 22:56  |  Morris Valentine 03/11/08
      55.   Election 23:03  |  American 03/11/08
      56.   #49 Lynn 23:08  |  mike 03/11/08
      57.   George Bush`s economic policy and Cheney`s foreign policy. 23:18  |  Maureen Ann 03/11/08
      58.   #39 Sonny....Durban II 23:25  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      59.   Just a little help.... 23:37  |  Sally 03/11/08
      60.   #52 Persian Kitty....the numbers are rapidly changing 23:54  |  Lynn 03/11/08
      61.   MS from California 00:24  |  Bill H. 04/11/08
      62.   # 53, MORRIS VALENTINE 00:45  |  indrajaya 04/11/08
      63.   Obama and the Jewish Vote 01:13  |  Angel 04/11/08
      64.   Communist 01:17  |  Avichai 04/11/08
      65.   Silverman 01:52  |  Lea 04/11/08
      66.   hypocrit 02:04  |  kay 04/11/08
      67.   # 52 Hello little kitty 03:18  |  allang 04/11/08
      68.   #3 Ash 03:38  |  John 04/11/08
      69.   #11 20 year old jew. 03:57  |  John 04/11/08
      70.   Allan G 04:08  |  Persian Kitty 04/11/08
      71.   #45 Persian cat 04:17  |  John 04/11/08
      72.   #58 Yes I do, both parties. 04:18  |  John 04/11/08
      73.   # 20 Indrajaya`s ... cosmic reality 05:24  |  allang 04/11/08
      74.   McCain`s war. 07:54  |  Evan Williams 04/11/08
      75.   right or wrong 09:00  |  Rab Burns 04/11/08
      76.   Obama`s Civilian National Security Force 12:06  |  Patrick Warner 04/11/08
      77.   Patrick,Obama`s Civilian National Security Force 21:32  |  Sonny 04/11/08
      78.   Jewish GOP 03:57  |  Alan 06/11/08
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