Jewish support for President Barack Obama continues to drop, but it remains higher than general American support for the president, a Gallup poll showed.
Daily tracking polls in August and September show support for Obama among Jewish voters at 54 percent, 13 points ahead of the national figure.
“Although Obama’s approval rating among Jewish Americans has been declining, it has generally declined no more than it has among all Americans,” Gallup said in its Sept. 16 release. “This calls into question attempts to link a decline in Obama’s approval among Jews to his statements or policies on matters important to Jewish policymakers and lobbyists.”
Some analyses of the Sept. 13 special election in New York, in which a Democrat lost a heavily Jewish seat to a Republican, ascribed the result in part to tensions between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Gallup said this was probably not the case.
Meanwhile, the Obama re-election campaign is launching its outreach to Jews with a mass conference call. Top campaign officials will address listeners in the call, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 27, said a top Jewish outreach official. The call is meant to arm Obama supporters with arguments ahead of the High Holy Days, the official said. — jta