Nathan Guttman at Moment discusses “myths” about the Jewish vote and concedes my points: Jews really don’t swing any state except maybe Florida, and the reason politicians pander to Jews is because of the money we bring to the process. Just imagine if evangelical Christians were so important in the process; would we ever hear the end of it in the liberal press? Do evangelicals have political diversity– I bet they do. And speaking of diversity, where is ours? Guttman also says that Jews don’t vote on Israel, but states that it’s a “threshhold” issue, and so long as a politician supports aid to Israel and is against an imposed solution on Israel, he’s fine. I.e., the issue isn’t politicized in our process. Everyone’s for that or they can’t play. Guttman:
• Myth: Jews can tip a swing state.
Rarely. The 2000 elections helped establish the myth that Jewish voters hold the power to decide a tight race. As election officials scrutinized ballots in Florida, some seemed to see an elderly Jewish swing voter behind every hanging chad. Florida remains an important battleground, and given the divided political makeup of the state and its large Jewish population, Jewish sun birds really can make a difference. Ohio is also a state where Jewish voters could play a role in a close race, although so far they haven’t. But the vast majority of Jewish voters vote in states that aren’t really in play, like New York and California, and their vote will hardly be noticed.
• Myth: Jewish money bankrolls election campaigns.
Maybe
. It is commonly believed that more than half of political donations to Democratic races and more than a third of those to Republican races come from Jewish donors. Again, there are no hard numbers here, but counting the Cohens and Goldmans on campaign disclosure lists can give a strong impression that Jews are heavily involved in political giving.
The fraction of the American voters who are Jewish is declining because of low Jewish birth rates. We do not have hard data on the importance of campaign contributions by self-identified Jews, altho I would not be surprised if Jews give 25-40% of all personal campaign contributions. (Ms Streisand, would you please come to the stage and collect your award?) For that matter, we do not have hard data on how many American Christians believe that Israel is part of God’s plan for our time, and that the Jews are still the Chosen People. I know that some Americans definitely believe this, especially evangelical Christians. I know that some American Roman Catholic bishops and intellectuals are pro-Israel and philosemitic because they are ashamed of the historical trashy anti-semiticism of Roman Catholic peasants and artisans. I also know that quite a few Americans view Arabs and Moslems with contempt, to a point that anybody who annoys Arabs and Moslems must be doing something right. This ignores the fact that quite a few Palestinians are Christian Arabs.
I have come to a tentative conclusion that I think is similar to Henry Knorr’s above. While Jews are 2% of all Americans, they make up 10% or more of what the Brits call the “chattering class.” The movers, shakers, and opinion makers. Newspapers, TV, film, leading public policy academics. You cannot be a respected member of the New York, Boston, Washington, and LA chattering classes if you disagree with Zionism, or take serious exception to Israel’s actions. Your phone calls are not returned, you don’t get invited to the cool dinner and cocktail parties, your opeds are rejected, you are not invited to address the CFA and the Trilateral Commission, you can’t publish in Foreign Affairs, etc etc. Note that the views of a person of the stature of Noam Chomski do not get much of a hearing. My very Catholic brother has told me that my Zion-skepticism is beyond the pale. My thesis adviser in grad school was shocked by my refusing to buy into “Israel right or wrong, because it is a democracy and its enemies are Bedouins under the skin.”