Thursday, May 22, 2008

Conventional wisdom, wrong again

The NYT has a front-page story on the way that many Jews are said to be uncomfortable with Obama. To me this is reminiscent of the stories a few months ago, about how he was running behind Clinton among African-Americans. (Remember that far back?) Here's a prediction: by November, Obama will have a large lead among Jewish voters. Not as large as his majority among blacks--there are, regrettably, a number of Jews who have forgotten their past and become Republicans--but still a solid one.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Here's a prediction: by November, Obama will have a large lead among Jewish voters. Not as large as his majority among blacks--there are, regrettably, a number of Jews who have forgotten their past and become Republicans--but still a solid one.

Not 50 years ago, many Jews changed their last names to Anglicized version to be accepted by the elite white Protestants in places as progressive as New York. These white Protestants are still the backbone of the GOP and their policies haven't changed too much, except now Jews are no longer persona non gratae.

I guess I don't begrudge them their new found acceptance. I just think it does a great disservice to the tradition of working together on social issues that had until a few decades ago suffused the Jewish/African American relationship.