Is America ready for a Jewish president?

[Mr. Ukucasha]

Jews are the number one target for hate crimes in the United States.

Just as recently as 50 years ago, it was not uncommon to come across businesses with signs to the effect of "no Jews/k**** or dogs allowed," and as recently as 75 years ago, the Jewish race was nearly exterminated from an entire continent.

In 2020, there were two Jewish-Americans, Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg, who ran for the Democratic nomination, only for both to underperform on Super Tuesday. Both of these men have faced anti-Semitism at various points of their lives. Sanders had many relatives who died in the Holocaust, and when he was a kid, Bloomberg's family was denied housing in Medford neighborhoods explicitly because of their Jewish ancestry. It's funny how the Democratic electorate rejected two potential first Jewish presidents, two potential first female presidents, and a potential first gay president for the only candidate in the entire primary who wouldn't have been the "first" anything (besides the oldest president, if that counts as a "first").

Unlike most other forms of bigotry, which are almost exclusively found on the right, anti-Semitism is present on both the left and right (of course, it is far more common amongst the latter than the former).

Is America ready for a Jewish president? In 2024/2028, Shapiro, Polis and Pritzker are potential Jewish candidates.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I think so, in the same sense that we were ready for a Black President. The loud minority can't overrule the majority.

My assessment of antisemitism in the United States is that it's a fringe hatred - but those who hate us REALLY hate us, enough to do something about it.

A Jewish candidate could definitely win, but they would need the best security team in Presidential history.

[Art Vance Furniture]

It’ll be an uphill battle, but I think a majority are fine with it. Josh Shapiro or JB Pritzker are the most likely candidates imho

[nicholas.slaydon]

I think that depends on what kind of Jew this hypothetical candidate is. Could America elect a secular Jew, who is only Jewish by ethnicity and not really by religious practice? I think so. However, I think it would be next to impossible for an halachically Orthodox Jew to be elected in the US. I just think that seeing a prospective presidential candidate praying in a foreign language wearing a tallit gadol and having tefillin strapped to his head would spook a lot of Americans as being quite alien to the religious practices that they would be familiar with.

Likewise, having a potential American President that couldn't eat a hot dog, a cheeseburger, or a pepperoni pizza would I think strike people as being kind of un-American. Similarly, I think an Orthodox sabbath keeping Jew would be strange as well to many Americans. Also, would a religiously observant Orthodox Jew partake in the annual tradition of lighting the Christmas tree? There are just a lot of small cultural things that I think would drive a wedge between an Orthodox Jew that would seek to be elected President and the voting public, but I don't think that those same issues would apply to Conservative Jews, Reform Jews, or other Jewish denominations.

[TheReckoning]

This is a Mr. Ukucasha threaf

[Fuzzy Bear]

It has been for a while.

[oldtimer]

It’ll be an uphill battle, but I think a majority are fine with it. Josh Shapiro or JB Pritzker are the most likely candidates imho

You know deep inside it will be Jon Ossoff.

[Suburbia]

Personally, I don't think so.

If Jon Ossoff or Josh Shapiro were Anglo like Biden, they'd be the best to be on a ticket paired with a woman...

We'll see.

[Suburbia]

It’ll be an uphill battle, but I think a majority are fine with it. Josh Shapiro or JB Pritzker are the most likely candidates imho

You know deep inside it will be Jon Ossoff.

50-50. He looks like the Dems' big star. Dems need a strong alpha male after Biden. Biden is a old alpha male....Ossoff is young, really handsome and he could do well with white women--something Dems have lost since Clinton in 1996...ironically....

[インターネット掲示板ユーザー Punxsutawney Phil]

If this was the America of 1922 as opposed to 2022, I'd have to vote No. Thankfully things have improved since.
The haters will always be there, though. A good security detail is important.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Yes.

President Obama showed that a good quality person can be elected regardless of creed or colour.

I do business with 3 or 4 Jewish people in the US. They don't advertise it per se but they are proud of their heritage.

[หมูเด้ง]

I am still hoping for a Jared Polis.

[Bismarck]

Non-Christian is the bigger issue than jewish I think but yes America would vote for a Jewish person to be president. We already have 3/4 of the top cabinet posts occupied by Jewish folks, a Jewish senate majority leader, several prominent Jewish governors of medium to largish states, and a Jewish second gentleman. Plus 3 of the last 5 presidents have had daughters who married Jewish people. If none of that has caused an issue I don’t see why a Jewish president would be a problem.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I am still hoping for a Jared Polis.

I think he and Pritzker are basically tied for the 2/3 spot. He's a naturally talented politician, but of course that 2-for-1 thing will be challenging in an election.

[Bismarck]

I am still hoping for a Jared Polis.

I think he and Pritzker are basically tied for the 2/3 spot. He's a naturally talented politician, but of course that 2-for-1 thing will be challenging in an election.

I don’t think Pritzker is a viable national candidate. An obese billionaire from a notoriously corrupt state? That’s bad even before whatever small penalty the first non Christian president will face. Polis would be potentially better but has the problem of having two glass ceilings in one man. 

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I reflexively voted "no" at first, but IMO, polarisation means there are realistic scenarios for almost any kind of presidential candidate who can get through a primary. It's just that this is a very low bar, and I'm not sure it would mean the country was "ready" for a president from a given background.

W.r.t. Jewish candidates specifically, I think it would be an uphill battle - probably more so than for a female Christian or atheist candidate, but perhaps not for a Mormon or Muslim one. Some understatement would be required on the candidate's part (this would all be much harder for an Orthodox Jew), but they might not have to go full Sidney Poitier.

The role of antisemitism in a presidential general election is an interesting "what if" factor in any scenario where Sanders won the 2020 primary.

[CookieDamage]

Absolutely. I'm sorta surprised we didn't elect one in the modern era (post WW2) yet. Of course, it would never happen  in like 1896.

I think the most likely candidates in the near term are Josh Shapiro, Jon Ossoff, and down the line Dana Nessel, Jena Griswold, and Ron Nirenberg. Michael Bennet and Brian Schatz are Jewish too but they don't seem to want to move behind the Senate, but they're both so young so who really knows?

I definitely think a religious Jew could win as well, but it would be more challenging.

[Suburbia]

Absolutely. I'm sorta surprised we didn't elect one in the modern era (post WW2) yet. Of course, it would never happen  in like 1896.

I think the most likely candidates in the near term are Josh Shapiro, Jon Ossoff, and down the line Dana Nessel, Jena Griswold, and Ron Nirenberg. Michael Bennet and Brian Schatz are Jewish too but they don't seem to want to move behind the Senate, but they're both so young so who really knows?

I definitely think a religious Jew could win as well, but it would be more challenging.

Stormfront won't allow it, they will fume.

[Santander]

I am still hoping for a Jared Polis.

I think he and Pritzker are basically tied for the 2/3 spot. He's a naturally talented politician, but of course that 2-for-1 thing will be challenging in an election.

I don’t think Pritzker is a viable national candidate. An obese billionaire from a notoriously corrupt state? That’s bad even before whatever small penalty the first non Christian president will face. Polis would be potentially better but has the problem of having two glass ceilings in one man. 

You are describing Trump.

[Damocles]

Sure! If they'd invite me to the White House for some Reubens, bagel sandwiches, latkes, and matzo ball soup.

I say so only in jest. I have no issues with a Jewish President. If the candidate in my preferred party happens to be Jewish, so what? I'd still vote for them.

[Torie]

Of course. That is my sense of it.

[Ferguson97]

Yes. Sanders came in 2nd twice, and his general election weaknesses had nothing to do with him being Jewish.

[Vosem]

Pew suggests they are in a poll released literally yesterday. As has been noted in this poll, Sanders came in second twice for the Democratic nomination, but also Lieberman was the initial frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in spring 2003 (and his collapse had nothing to do with being Jewish), and Bloomberg came fairly close to sniping Biden as the establishment Democratic candidate in 2020 (at the closest pass, he was 4% behind in the national poll average), and he probably only failed because of his late start.

It is sort of fascinating that there were no remotely serious Jewish presidential candidates ever before 2004, given just how long ago Jewish overrepresentation in Congress and the judiciary date to. OTOH throwing out the extreme outlier Shirley Chisholm campaign, which won some primaries in 1972 and was basically taken seriously by the electorate but was never really going to win nationally, there were no remotely serious female presidential candidates before 2008. As recently as the Bush era American politics at the top levels was far less diverse than today, even on the pretty extreme left.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Personally, I don't think so.

If Jon Ossoff or Josh Shapiro were Anglo like Biden, they'd be the best to be on a ticket paired with a woman...

We'll see.

Biden is an Irish Catholic, which was definitely not considered Anglo back when that sort of thing mattered.

[emailking]

I don't care about the President's religious beliefs as long as s/he is not pushy about it.