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The Young Jewish Vote
How Baltimore’s Jews are voting
Maayan Jaffe
Staff Reporter
Word on the street is… well… mixed. Young voters between the ages of 25 and 45 are certainly planning to vote, they say, but for whom they are going to cast their ballots is a little surprising. Registered Democrats are considering Republican candidate Senator John McCain, while folks whose parents have a long history of voting for the Republican Party are supporting the Democratic candidate, Senator Barack Obama.
The issues these young voters are examining tend to be similar, if not the same — Israel being the binding force. But which candidate is best for solving America”s problems remains a matter of debate.
Who’s voting for whom crosses gender, age and party lines. Of the eight individuals interviewed for this article, four said Obama is their man, four preferred McCain. Jews who affiliate with the Conservative movement were split; for example, two of them said they’d vote Republican, the other two chose Democrat. While Orthodox Jews tend to be siding with McCain, citing similar value systems, Reform, Reconstructionist and unaffiliated Jews are likely opting for Obama.
The same issues, however, are important to most Jews. First and foremost on nearly everyone’s list that iNSIDER interviewed was foreign policy. Those supporting John McCain, like Orthodox 25-year-old Ariel Wolf, say America needs someone like John McCain to confront radical threats.
“John McCain has the experience and is willing to go after the right people in the right places,” Wolf said.
Jon Seaman, 39, a member of the Conservative movement, had similar sentiments: “I want to make sure the next president can stand up to our enemies and not be afraid to go on the offensive.”
Democratic supporters, however, said Obama is up for the job. Yaakov “Jake” Weissman said what he likes about Obama’s foreign policy
perspective is his willingness to talk with people.
“I feel Senator Obama’s stance on talking to foreign leaders, including Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, allows communication to occur,” he said. “When these leaders are rendered impotent through diplomacy,” the country will be safer. Weissman, 23 and unaffiliated, is the executive vice president of the Young Democrats of Maryland.
Iraq, of course, is a key piece of the foreign policy puzzle. Dr. Anna Monias, 37, is a traditional Jew. She said if America had left Iraq two years ago, as Obama campaigned for, then Iraq would have been left in the middle of a civil war.
“Now it looks like we are winning the war and will be able to leave Iraq being safer, which ultimately means the U.S. is safer,” she said. Monias is supporting McCain.
Said modern Orthodox Yehuda Delshad, 26, a McCain supporter: “I am no longer in favor of the war, but I feel we have a lot of loose ends in Iraq before we can just leave.”
Then there’s energy. “To fix our energy crisis, we have to look long-term, something the Democrats are willing to do and the Republicans are not, with their repeated, insistent talk of drilling,” said Weissman.
Other issues that came up: healthcare and tax reform. Wolf said he’s concerned about any universal healthcare bill Obama proposes. With several family members in the medical field, Wolf said he knows first hand that universal healthcare in the form the Democrats propose would “do much damage to the professional medical field. It would reduce the incentive to provide really good care at all hours of the day. It should be about earning what you work for, not what the government pays out.”
He said he is all for everyone having access to health care, “but I don’t like the way the Democrats want to do it.”
And taxes? Well, Delshad wants at least the status quo.
“Republicans generally don’t raise taxes, if they don’t lower them,” he said.
But Don Engel, 29, a member of the Conservative Movement and president of the Baltimore County Young Democrats, said he doesn’t like the way Republicans use America’s tax dollars. He said he’s voting for the candidate that will invest the taxpayers’ money into “our shared energy, job and infrastructure future.”
As for Israel, both sides said their candidate could secure Israel’s future. McCain supporters said he would allow Israel to do what it needs to do to protect itself and its security. Obama supporters said the Senator’s ability to unite would keep Israel safe.
“Israel needs to be surrounded by friends, not enemies,” said Reconstructionist Mark Cook, 45, who will vote for Obama this year.
Though age didn’t seem to matter amongst these voters, many of the interviewees said younger folks were more likely to be Democrats, swayed by Obama’s charisma and call for change. Seaman, for example, said younger people lack information and “easily jump” when they hear change.
Meanwhile, Monias is concerned about Obama’s lack of a record. “Senator Obama really doesn’t have enough of a record to know what his true positions are. I think it would be somewhat of a risk to elect him,” she said.
On the other hand, Eli Allen, 27, fears that McCain is a risk. “He’s been trying to present himself as a moderate, but his views are of the extreme right.”
How about men versus women at the polls? Many said that if Senator Hillary Clinton had been on the ballot, their wives and girlfriends would be voting for her. But when it comes to Obama versus McCain, some women are opting for the Republican side… and his female V.P.
Seaman said the media demonized Clinton and is trying to do the same to Sarah Palin. He said with five smart and successful sisters and a wife, he finds the media’s argument that Palin should be at home with her kids distressing.
“Women who claim to be liberal may need to re-assess who is really a match for their views,” Seaman said.
This election, people are more focused on candidate than party, said the interviewees. Wolf works in Washington, D.C. and said he sees a lot of his friends turning center- to moderate-minded McCain.
“I see a lot more young Jews considering voting Republican who in college were much more dogmatic [about the Democratic Party],” he said.
“I don’t look at someone as a Republican or Democrat, but is this person someone I know that is going to really get the job done,” said Seaman.
What follows from this focus on the individual is less concern with how President George W. Bush did in office. None of the eight interviewees said Bush’s performance was a major factor in their voting decision.
So which candidate meshes better with Jewish principles? Naturally, it depends upon who you ask. Monias said the Republican Party is in line with Maimonides. The Medieval scholar said the best way to give charity is to enable someone to make his own living, as opposed to just handing him money or food. That, she said, is what the Republicans are trying to do.
But Cook couldn’t disagree more. He said Judaism is about tolerance, about learning and listening before passing judgment, and Obama owns up to that philosophy. “We need a president that will restore the confidence of the American people,” said Cook. “We need to rekindle the light — and we can only do that through a leader like Senator Obama.”
How Jews Vote
American Jewish Committee’s 2008 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion conducted Sept. 8-21.
2008 Election
Barack Obama: 57 percent
John McCain: 30 percent
Undecided: 13 percent
Orthodox Jews
McCain: 78 percent
Obama: 13 percent
Conservative Jews
Obama: 59 percent
McCain: 26 percent
Reform Jews
Obama: 62 percent
McCain: 27 percent
“Just Jewish”
Obama: 61 percent
McCain: 26 percent
Choice Of Sarah Palin
Approve: 37 percent
Disapprove: 54 percent
Choice Of Joe Biden
Approve: 73 percent
Disapprove: 15 percent
Major Issue
Economy: 54 percent
Health care: 11 percent
Iraq War: 6 percent
Israel: 3 percent
2004 Election
John Kerry: 76 percent
George W. Bush: 24 percent
2000, 1996, 1992
Democratic candidate:
78 to 80 percent
Republican candidate:
20 to 22 percent
Source: Survey by research organization Synovate of 914 self-identifying Jewish respondents, conducted by telephone. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Key Jewish Issues In 2008
1. Foreign Policy/Iraq & Israel
2. Energy/Environment
3. Healthcare Reform
Source: iNSIDER interviews
Those Who Vote, Maryland
65.6% of Maryland’s citizens registered to vote in 2000;
57.1% of those registered showed up to the polls
61.4% of Maryland males were registered;
52.8% of males voted
69.5% of Maryland females were registered;
61.2% of females voted
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
