# Why do American Jewish voters favour the Democrats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456 "2011-11-10T01:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/21 "2011-11-10T17:47:10Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > And you’ve also seen what can happen to Jews in societies where religion and secular law are completely separated (USSR) and it also ain’t good. Right. We had it so much better under the tsars and Cossacks. My great grandfather got the hell out of pre-revolution Russia. I’d say religious societies are worse on average. Ever heard of a pogrom? Hell, have you ever watched **An American Tail**? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/22 "2011-11-10T17:50:28Z")
Remember also that many immigrants a century or so ago came from a Socialist tradition in Eastern Europe, and brought it here. Actually we wanted to join the Republican party, but all their meetings were at the country club and we weren’t allowed in. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/23 "2011-11-10T17:53:51Z")
My theory is that Jews have for the last hundred and fifty years or so been enamoured with socialism. Socialism is a system where intellectuals rule and since Jewish people are more likely to be intellectuals that appeals to them. Also they had very bad experiences with nationalism, to put it mildly, when people would get jealous of their commercial success and attempt to kill them and steal their property. These pogroms were used by nationalist leaders to distract from the leader’s shortcomings. The Jewish religion is very focused on the uplift of the poor, and socialism claims to be interested in helping the poor. Thus socialism offer Jewish people the opportunity for power, protection from enemies, and a way to fulfill their religous obligations. When Jewish immigrants came to this country they brought their love of socialism with them and moved into inner cities where the Democratic machines ran politics. If you look at trends among ethnic groups the long term trend is to move into cheap inner cities as first generation immigrants and be loyal democrats as part of the machine. Each succesive generation then gets more assimilated, richer, moves to the suburbs and votes more Republican the further away the get from the city. The two ethnic groups that have not followed this pattern are blacks and Jews, both of which have the high in-group cohesiveness, which to some extent prevents assimilation and encourages identity expression through politics. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/24 "2011-11-10T18:12:42Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I will repeat what I’ve heard around certain dinner tables, etc: > > Because the Democratic party is condescending to minorities and ultimately serves to make them remain underprivileged, dependent on other wealthier classes and persists in having them labeled as poor, bound to a subset in life. All this helps to define who is the upper class and who is forever the lower class, and this fits the elite Jews just fine. > > This is not my opinion. And they wonder why you can’t make it home for Thanksgiving… ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/25 "2011-11-10T18:14:19Z")
I don’t know if it’s the original cause, but certainly the Democrats seem to be the party most in favor of social programs, and Judaism has a [tradition of charity called \* tzedakah\*](http://www.jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm) that fits in reasonably well with the aims of the Democratic party since at least the 60’s. In general, if I were going to pick a party that represents the Jewish traditions of education, responsibility to your fellow man and just being a [mensch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensch)in general, I’d have to pick the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/26 "2011-11-10T22:35:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > **Why do American Jewish voters favour the Democrats?** > > As noted previously, it relates to a long-term identification with liberal causes including protection of minority rights and unionization of labo(u)r. > > And it’s part of the historic Jewish scheme of promoting Communist dominion while simultaneously controlling capitalist enterprises and wealth. Your last sentence doesn’t even deserve a response. It has been the accusation made against the Jews for centuries, resulting in antisemitism and pogroms against the Jews. Jews have historically voted Democrat, as the Democrats have been perceived to be for the 99% . My mother was a Democrat, so I, in the past, have voted the same way. 80% of Jews voted for Obama, despite the rantings of his biased preacher and his association with known antisemites, which continues until this day. His present treatment of Israel, along with the snubbing of Netanyahu, are finally convincing some of the Jews that this administration must go. The latest leak of Obama’s words concerning Netanyahu (concurring that he is a liar) may change some more minds. Not part of GQ and not related to the OP, it is the Palestines who have historically lied (see the Oslo accords, for example). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/27 "2011-11-11T01:38:47Z")
Actually, IMHO, most of the reasons cited are hogwash. I can’t answer the question of why “most Jews” are Democrats, but I can say why one is. First off, my father was essentially anti-union and went to some effort to avoid joining one. I am more or less in agreement with him. I must disagree when I see Walmart close a store rather than permit a union (this actually happened here in Quebec, although Walmart denied that was the reason). Second my family was no highly educated; I was the first one to go to college. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have a lot of respect for education; we did. Republicans don’t (not all Republicans, but most). They’re the ones who write letters to the editor complaining that school teachers are underworked and overpaid. And who try to keep genuine science out of the classroom. I guess it started with my paternal grandmother who had a picture of FDR on the wall of her kitchen. My memories go back to before he died and that is what I remember. As far as she was concerned, he saved the country. Now I know all about the fact that the depression didn’t actually end until the war started, but I buy the accepted explanation that that was because Roosevelt was too pusillanimous about a large deficit until the war forced his hand and people stopped worrying about the deficit. Then came the Eisenhower years in which the highest marginal tax rate went to 91%, the deficit was substantially reduced, along with unemployment (yes Ike was a Republican, but an intelligent one; they’ve been getting stupider ever since, although they it will take some effort to go lower than Palin). BTW one explanation that was hinted above was the effect of the big city Democratic machines. Not in Philadelphia which had a Republican machine until the from shortly after the Civil War until the late 1940s, but it didn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of Jews in the city were Democrats. But in my mind there was one overwhelming explanation for my voting Democrat all these years. There is a hard to translate Hebrew word, rachmanes, which kind of combines pity, sympathy and empathy. Not all Jews have it (cf. Eric Cantor) and many non-Jews do (Bill Clinton has it in spades) but few Republicans do and that goes a long way to explaining why I have continued to vote Democrat these last 53 years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/28 "2011-11-11T01:57:12Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Your last sentence doesn’t even deserve a response. It has been the accusation made against the Jews for centuries, resulting in antisemitism and pogroms against the Jews. I’m pretty sure he meant it very sarcastically. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/29 "2011-11-11T02:00:56Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Actually, IMHO, most of the reasons cited are hogwash. I can’t answer the question of why “most Jews” are Democrats, but I can say why one is. > > First off, my father was essentially anti-union and went to some effort to avoid joining one. I am more or less in agreement with him. I must disagree when I see Walmart close a store rather than permit a union (this actually happened here in Quebec, although Walmart denied that was the reason). Second my family was no highly educated; I was the first one to go to college. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have a lot of respect for education; we did. Republicans don’t (not all Republicans, but most). They’re the ones who write letters to the editor complaining that school teachers are underworked and overpaid. And who try to keep genuine science out of the classroom. > > I guess it started with my paternal grandmother who had a picture of FDR on the wall of her kitchen. My memories go back to before he died and that is what I remember. As far as she was concerned, he saved the country. Now I know all about the fact that the depression didn’t actually end until the war started, but I buy the accepted explanation that that was because Roosevelt was too pusillanimous about a large deficit until the war forced his hand and people stopped worrying about the deficit. Then came the Eisenhower years in which the highest marginal tax rate went to 91%, the deficit was substantially reduced, along with unemployment (yes Ike was a Republican, but an intelligent one; they’ve been getting stupider ever since, although they it will take some effort to go lower than Palin). > > BTW one explanation that was hinted above was the effect of the big city Democratic machines. Not in Philadelphia which had a Republican machine until the from shortly after the Civil War until the late 1940s, but it didn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of Jews in the city were Democrats. > > But in my mind there was one overwhelming explanation for my voting Democrat all these years. There is a hard to translate Hebrew word, rachmanes, which kind of combines pity, sympathy and empathy. Not all Jews have it (cf. Eric Cantor) and many non-Jews do (Bill Clinton has it in spades) but few Republicans do and that goes a long way to explaining why I have continued to vote Democrat these last 53 years. [Colbert]This post is a shonda to the goyim[/Colbert] ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/30 "2011-11-11T18:31:56Z")
There are lots of demographic characteristics of Jews, and many of those lean them Democratic when voting: Compared to the USA population as a whole: [ul] [li]Jews are more **educated**. Higher levels of education correlates with voting Democratic.[/li][li]Jews mainly live in **urban** areas. Urban dwellers vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Jews live mostly in the **northern** (non-slave) states. Northerners vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Jews work more in **professions** than working class. Professional people vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Jews are a **minority** ; minorities tend to vote Democratic.[/li][li]Jews are less **fundamentalist** /orthodoxic about religion; such people vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Jews tend to **read more** ; readers vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Historically, most Jewish families were **immigrants** ; immigrants tend to vote more Democratic.[/li][li]Jews were restricted to living in concentrated **communities** (ghettos in Europe, limited neighborhoods in America) which promoted a sense of the society working together; this social view matches with Democratic programs like Social Security, pensions, Medicare, etc.[/li][li]compared to other religions, Jews seem to put more public emphasis on **charity** & taking care of your fellow humans; that aligns more with Democratic policies. [/li][li]Jews were **oppressed** ; the people who oppressed them were mostly Republicans (rich people who kept them out of clubs, jobs, & neighborhoods, or poor white trash who lynched them); so they vote Democratic. [/li][li]Some prominent Republican are **anti-Semitic** ; or hang around with loud anti-Semites; so Jews tend to vote for Democrats instead of them.[/li][li]Within living memory, exterminating all Jews was attempted by Hitler & the Nazis, a right-leaning authoritarian political party, so Jews vote for the more left-leaning party, the Democrats. (Listed last, per Godwin’s Law. 🙂 )[/li][/ul] All of these are gross generalizations, with many individual exceptions, but taken together they tend to make Jews more Democratic voters. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/31 "2011-11-11T18:46:11Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > . The two ethnic groups that have not followed this pattern are **blacks** and Jews, both of which have the **high in-group cohesiveness,** which to some extent prevents assimilation and encourages identity expression through politics. (Bolding mine): Wait, _WHAT??_ I’m black and that’s about the LAST thing I or any black folk I know would say about us. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/32 "2011-11-11T19:48:26Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > . The two ethnic groups that have not followed this pattern are **blacks** and Jews, both of which have the **high in-group cohesiveness** , which to some extent prevents assimilation and encourages identity expression through politics. > [@rogerbox](#): > > (Bolding mine): Wait, _WHAT??_ I’m black and that’s about the LAST thing I or any black folk I know would say about us. So you’re saying you and other folks in your group have very similar views about that? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/33 "2011-11-11T20:28:32Z")
The only thing all black folk can agree on is that there is no cohesiveness, yes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/34 "2011-11-11T21:15:59Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > The only thing all black folk can agree on is that there is no cohesiveness, yes. 😛 Anybody who’s ever been in a group of Jews arguing about something (even just something like where we should go for lunch) knows Jews sometimes don’t have much cohesiveness, either. Maybe that’s why they tend to vote Democratic – they feel at home in that party. Remember Will Rogers: _“I don’t belong to any organized political party – I’m a Democrat.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/35 "2011-11-11T21:33:59Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > The only thing all black folk can agree on is that there is no cohesiveness, yes. 😛 **Puddlegum** was talking about a particular type of cohesiveness, which he defined in his post. Blacks and Jews tend to view themselves as a group more so then a lot of other US ethnic groups. How much they actually agree about various issues amongst themselves isn’t really relevant. (and indeed, if you say “we never agree about anything”, your sort of proving the point. There’s a “we” in your head that’s well defined enough to generalize about). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/36 "2011-11-11T21:49:40Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Your last sentence doesn’t even deserve a response. It has been the accusation made against the Jews for centuries, resulting in antisemitism and pogroms against the Jews. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’m pretty sure he meant it very sarcastically. Hey, that’s my [second](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14419597&postcount=13) [major whoosh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14419656&postcount=14) in a little over a week. And both times I thought the sarcasm was blatant.\* Obviously I have missed out on a promising career as a con artist. \*the only mystery greater than Jews being apex capitalists while simultaneously fomenting Communist revolution, is their ability to be clannish and pushy at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/37 "2011-11-11T22:01:33Z")
[QUOTE=Puddlegum] Each succesive generation then gets more assimilated, richer, moves to the suburbs and votes more Republican the further away the get from the city. The two ethnic groups that have not followed this pattern are blacks and Jews, both of which have the high in-group cohesiveness, which to some extent prevents assimilation and encourages identity expression through politics. [/QUOTE] The notion, “Well, them blacks and them jews, they stick to themselves mostlike, that’s why they won’t assimiliate like regular folks” is jaw-dropping in its ignorance of the historical record. It ain’t like blacks were out there sticking to themselves for no particular reason. See, up until 60 years ago blacks were legally excluded from just about everything. I mean, not allowed to go to rent the same hotel rooms as whites, not allowed to eat at the same restaurants, not allowed to go to the same schools, not allowed to work at the same jobs, not allowed to serve in the same military units, not allowed to marry white people, not allowed to serve on juries, not allowed to vote. Jews were similarly excluded, albeit not so crudely. They didn’t refuse to assimilate. Blacks and jews weren’t allowed to assimilate. It’s a historical fact. You could look it up. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/38 "2011-11-11T23:27:45Z")
Republicans and conservatives tend to romanticize the “good ole days.” People with a history of oppression don’t tend to have a lot of nostalgia. Republicans and conservatives also tend to put a lot of value and trust in institutions–government (in particular, local authorities), corporations/business interests, and mainstream religion. People with a history of oppression don’t tend to trust institutions to do right by them. Even if you argue that Jewish Americans haven’t been truly oppressed in the US, they still tend to think of themselves as being especially vulnerable to various -isms. Perception is just as important as reality. Can you think of any group with a history of racial/ethnic oppression that doesn’t align themselves with the Democratic Party? Hispanics largely vote Dem. Cuban Americans go Republican, but they–especially the folks and their families that came right after the overthrow of Batista–have never been subjugated to the same stigma and economic hardships that groups like Chicanos, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans have. (They also tend to play up their whiteness to a higher degree than other Hispanics, from my experience). ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/39 "2011-11-11T23:44:17Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Cuban Americans go Republican, but they–especially the folks and their families that came right after the overthrow of Batista–have never been subjugated to the same stigma and economic hardships that groups like Chicanos, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans have. (They also tend to play up their whiteness to a higher degree than other Hispanics, from my experience). I doubt that it’s an economic hardship or whiteness thing so much as a “fleeing communists” thing. The Republicans are nothing if not anti-communist. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456/40 "2011-11-12T14:07:37Z")
I think an interesting point is that the largest group of vocal supporters of Israel are evangelical Christians - who as a group lean Republican. Just throwing that out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-jewish-voters-favour-the-democrats/602456.md?page=3)