How Come Reagan Won 39% of the Jewish Vote in 1980?
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  How Come Reagan Won 39% of the Jewish Vote in 1980?
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Author Topic: How Come Reagan Won 39% of the Jewish Vote in 1980?  (Read 2812 times)
Bo
Rochambeau
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« on: February 19, 2010, 10:49:17 PM »

The last time the GOP managed to win more than that (barely) was in 1956, and before that in 1920. The GOP had always done worse than that with Jewish voters after 1980 in Presidential elections. Even if 1984 Reagan only won 31% of the Jewish vote, an 8% decrease from 1980 despite the fact that the nationwide popular vote was 8% higher for Reagan in 1984 than in 1980.

Here is my source:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/jewvote.html

How come Reagan managed to do comparatively well with Jews in 1980? Was it just general unhappiness with the poor economy, Carter's policies towards Israel, or something else? Also, how come Reagan did worse among Jews in 1984 than in 1980? You would figure that with the economic recovery and Reagan's popularity (among the general public), Reagan should have done better with Jewish voters in 1984.
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patrick1
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2010, 10:58:13 PM »

Compared to previous and successor presidents Carter had a pro-Arab policy. This is apparent in his post presidential activism as well. The Iran hostage crisis was fresh and had a lot to do with it. Mondale was quite pro-Israel in the campaign and Ferraro had a good track record in her district.
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RIP Robert H Bork
officepark
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2010, 11:01:37 PM »

The even funnier part was how badly Reagan did in 1984.
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Linus Van Pelt
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« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2010, 11:02:40 PM »

Carter was unpopular with Jews because he wore his evangelical Christianity on his sleeve in a way that was quite unusual at the time.

Check out the ad called "Bible", the one that's third from the left in the Democrat list of videos at the bottom. Having a whole ad just about your religion so explicitly is rare even for Republicans nowadays.

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980

I don't think he was perceived as particularly anti-Israel when he was in power; he did after all negotiate a successful deal between Sadat and Begin. And even the religious nutters in Israel don't particularly want the Sinai back.
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Bo
Rochambeau
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« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2010, 11:07:03 PM »

Compared to previous and successor presidents Carter had a pro-Arab policy. This is apparent in his post presidential activism as well. The Iran hostage crisis was fresh and had a lot to do with it. Mondale was quite pro-Israel in the campaign and Ferraro had a good track record in her district.

I obviously know that Carter was/is very pro-Arab after his Presidency, but was he really that pro-Arab during his Presidency? I don't seem to recall that he pushed Israel aggressively or anything of that sort, unlike some Presidents whom came after him (Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama, etc.). Carter created peace between Israel and Egypt and didn't really change anything else much in regards to the Israel policy of his predecessors. Also, even if Mondale was/acted pro-Israel, it is very surprising that Jews swung 16% leftward in 1984 in comparison to the national average when nearly every other demographic shifted rightward in that election. BTW, was the Iran hostage crisis that important to Jewish voters? Or did many Jews think that a radical Islamic regime is anti-Semitic and Carter must therefore be punished since he did not stand up to this new regime?
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phk
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« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2010, 11:14:16 PM »

Mondale 1984 was a better candidate for Jews than Carter 1980.

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patrick1
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2010, 11:21:08 PM »

I think that a regime coming to power that had a stated mission of Death to Israel and the Great Satan had a great influence over Jewish voters.  Brzezinski was also not a man they would likely want influencing policy. Interestingly James Baker was hated also. An independent course is not really welcome.
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pragmatic liberal
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« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2010, 03:22:27 PM »

Compared to previous and successor presidents Carter had a pro-Arab policy. This is apparent in his post presidential activism as well. The Iran hostage crisis was fresh and had a lot to do with it. Mondale was quite pro-Israel in the campaign and Ferraro had a good track record in her district.

I obviously know that Carter was/is very pro-Arab after his Presidency, but was he really that pro-Arab during his Presidency? I don't seem to recall that he pushed Israel aggressively or anything of that sort, unlike some Presidents whom came after him (Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama, etc.). Carter created peace between Israel and Egypt and didn't really change anything else much in regards to the Israel policy of his predecessors. Also, even if Mondale was/acted pro-Israel, it is very surprising that Jews swung 16% leftward in 1984 in comparison to the national average when nearly every other demographic shifted rightward in that election. BTW, was the Iran hostage crisis that important to Jewish voters? Or did many Jews think that a radical Islamic regime is anti-Semitic and Carter must therefore be punished since he did not stand up to this new regime?

I could be wrong, but I've read that American Jewish opinion was substantially more pro-Israel at the time, and the Israel-Egypt accords weren't actually that popular.
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Bo
Rochambeau
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« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2010, 11:36:37 PM »

Compared to previous and successor presidents Carter had a pro-Arab policy. This is apparent in his post presidential activism as well. The Iran hostage crisis was fresh and had a lot to do with it. Mondale was quite pro-Israel in the campaign and Ferraro had a good track record in her district.

I obviously know that Carter was/is very pro-Arab after his Presidency, but was he really that pro-Arab during his Presidency? I don't seem to recall that he pushed Israel aggressively or anything of that sort, unlike some Presidents whom came after him (Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama, etc.). Carter created peace between Israel and Egypt and didn't really change anything else much in regards to the Israel policy of his predecessors. Also, even if Mondale was/acted pro-Israel, it is very surprising that Jews swung 16% leftward in 1984 in comparison to the national average when nearly every other demographic shifted rightward in that election. BTW, was the Iran hostage crisis that important to Jewish voters? Or did many Jews think that a radical Islamic regime is anti-Semitic and Carter must therefore be punished since he did not stand up to this new regime?

I could be wrong, but I've read that American Jewish opinion was substantially more pro-Israel at the time, and the Israel-Egypt accords weren't actually that popular.

That's possible, but I don't see why Americans Jews would oppose Israel signing a peace treaty with an Arab country (for the first time)? That is supposed to be a good thing--even most people in Israel back then supported the Camp David Accords, I believe.
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12th Doctor
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« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2010, 02:04:04 AM »

Jewish Conspiracy... they are both capitalized, because its all part of the same one.
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