President Obama’s re-election, Democratic gains in the Senate and the passage of same-sex marriage ballot initiatives together suggest a certain progressive trajectory to this election.
As always, we ask the age-old question: Is it good for the Jews?
Not surprisingly, Jews went for Obama in a big way — again. Exit polls show the president garnering 69 percent of the Jewish vote, down from his 2008 win by 5 to 9 points (depending on which exit poll you prefer from four years ago). This is a significant drop, but 69 percent is still a huge number, attributable not only to historic ties between Jews and the Democratic Party, but also to wariness of a Republican Party that embraces extremist positions — such as those espoused by Senate candidates Todd Akin of Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana, whose bizarre comments about women and rape were insufficiently denounced by party leaders.
This is a time of reflection for Republicans vis-à-vis the Jewish vote. Pollster Jim Gerstein, who conducted a national election night survey of Jewish voters, posits that Republicans miscalculated the importance Jewish voters place on candidates’ positions on Israel. According to recent surveys, American Jews care about Israel, but it’s not the first, second or even third factor in helping them decide whom to vote for. So long as a candidate passes the so-called “threshold test” on Israel — meaning, whether he or she supports the Jewish state — “Jews move on to other issues,” Gerstein says.
Republicans apparently didn’t get that memo and continued sending out the wrong message, one that apparently did not resonate with Jewish voters. And in the end, Mitt Romney was unable to separate himself from what the majority of Jewish voters don’t like about the Republican Party — its social conservatism.
As for U.S.-Israeli relations, there remain kinks to work out, but the relationship will continue on a strong path, as it would have with a Romney presidency. Some, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, are already saying Obama’s re-election will jump-start bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
With the campaign behind him, Obama should redouble his efforts on that front. It’s time he visited Israel — as president.
For now, Obama and Congress need to get to work solving America’s problems, together.