JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

RJC: McCain looking good

By Ami Eden · May 7, 2008

The Republican Jewish Coalition has a statement out about the new Gallup poll:

Washington, D.C. (May 7, 2008) – Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matt Brooks issued the followed statement today:

"The just released Gallup poll of Jewish voters is another important indicator of the ongoing troubles Barack Obama has with Jewish voters. In the poll of Jewish voters (conducted April 1-30), it showed Obama getting only 61% of the Jewish vote against John McCain (32%). By comparison, in 2004, John Kerry received 75% of the Jewish vote and George W. Bush received 25%. The recent polling numbers demonstrate Obama's weakness among Jewish voters. This data comes on the heels of the exit poll data from the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton beat Obama among Jewish voters 62% - 38%," said Brooks. "These results show that the American Jewish community is troubled by what they know of Barack Obama, his views and his positions. The RJC remains confident that John McCain will continue the trend of the GOP making inroads among Jewish voters."

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Gallup: Hillary better than Obama among Jews, but not that much better

By Ami Eden · May 7, 2008

Gallup has new Jewish numbers based on its aggregate tracking from April 1-30, including interviews with close to 800 Jewish voters, and nearly 600 Jewish Democratic voters.

The press release spins the data as a positive for Obama: He's not that far behind Hillary among Jewish Democratic voters (43%-50%) and does about as well as she does among Jewish voters in a matchup against John McCain (she beats McCain 66%-27%, Obama wins 61%-32%).

Of course, Jewish Republicans will probably be quick to note that 27% or 32% would mean an improvement for McCain over the 24% of the Jewish vote that President Bush's won in 2004 against John Kerry. But considering that very little attention is being paid right now to McCain's pro-life record and his other conservative domestic positions, it's probably way too early to argue that McCain is poised to make serious inroads among Jews.

That said, Kerry did do about five points worse among Jews than Bill Clinton and Al Gore did; so, if nothing else, these Gallup numbers and past history suggest that – if he were to face Obama – McCain might have a better shot at holding on to the gains that Bush made between 2000 (when he took just 19% of the Jewish vote) and 2004.

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