Romney's Cynical Push For Jewish Votes

      One of the reasons that Republicans do so poorly with women, Hispanics, African Americans, etc. is that they just don't get it. They're idea for say going for the Hispanic vote is to suggest Rubio for Vice President.

      It's as if you can promote polices Hispanic people hate, but they will vote for you anyway, just because the you bring in a Hispanic person to promote it. Or they respond to poor numbers with women by bringing in a woman to say she'll kill Planned Parenthood. It suggests that they think that minority groups are simply emotional and don't understand the issues. That's really what they think too.

     So this year they think they have a trump card to finally win over some Jewish votes:

     "It has become a predictable quadrennial ritual: Republicans claim this is the presidential election that their pro-Israel credentials will translate into crucial gains among Jewish voters."

      "What actually could make this White House campaign different, the first one in the post-Citizens United era, is just how hard-fought and expensive the battle for what is only three percent of the electorate ultimately could be."

     Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/79071.html#ixzz21w3AO0uv
 
     Essentially Shelly Adelson plans to buy the Jewish vote. Bear in mind that they try it every year:

     "Even though Republicans haven’t cracked 25 percent of the Jewish vote since 1988, GOP backers of Mitt Romney — who arrives in Israel Saturday — are mounting what likely will be the most aggressive effort yet in dollars and cents to woo one of Ohio and Florida’s most pivotal constituencies."

      It seems to me that this is no different than their hope to get blacks to not vote for Obama based on support for gay marriage. Probably they're over estimating it's potential. Do most Jewish Americans vote based on Israel above all?

      Even those who see Israel as important, how many of them actually agree with the hawkish policies of Netanyahu? Still the hope is that they can skim a little off the top in swing states like Florida and Ohio, enough to make the switch.

      A big part of the trip is optics-Obama hasn't visited Israel once in his first term so Romney in already visiting during his campaign can drive the idea that Obama hates Israel or is at least unsympathetic to Israel.

     “The Israel issue is just one of many issues that influence someone’s perception of a candidate and I think it’s a pretty small number of people where that’s their top issue,” said Noah Pollak, executive director of the conservative Emergency Committee for Israel. “But in general, I think for Jewish voters and non-Jewish voters alike, it’s pretty puzzling to them why this administration has treated Israel like it’s a problem to be confronted. … That very well, in a state like Florida, could be influential.”

     Eric Cantor claims this is going to help the GOP a lot:

     "The House leader, the most prominent Jewish Republican in American politics, said he thinks Romney can come close to matching Ronald Reagan’s 39 percent of the Jewish vote in 1980 — the high water mark for GOP White House candidates in the modern era."

      I doubt it will be that dramatic:

     "Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster, said Romney’s numbers among Jews could bump up, but it will be contingent on more of the community voting on Israel."

    “To the extent that Jewish voters are driven by concerns over Israel rather than domestic issues, Romney’s got a reasonable shot to get to 30 or even 35 percent,” said Ayres

     "Indyk questioned whether Romney’s message on Israel — “saying that he would subcontract his Middle Eastern policy to the prime minister of Israel” — would resonate with American Jews, or whether courting them like a single-issue group was wise to begin with."

    “Jews, as a broad generalization, are progressives. That puts them in the Democratic camp. Some small minority will vote the Israel issue, but most of them will make a broader judgment,” Indyk said. “And the things they care about, as well as Israel, are things like health care and the kinds of progressive policies that President Obama stands for.”

    The Jews as a group in America tend to vote idealism. Even though they are a high income group they vote strongly Democratic. I don't think there are enough fire eating Israel hawks to make a difference. But it's something to keep in mind. The GOP will try to get its wedge issues where it can.