Before the election, pundits on the right were predicting (hoping) for a historical shift in the traditional voting patterns of Jews — away from the Democratic party and towards Bush. By contrast, some on the left implicitely blamed Jews and “support for Israel” as the key engine for Bush & Co’s militant policies in the Middle East.
The actual results seemed to indicate no such shift occurred - 78% of Jews voted for Kerry as oppossed to 80% in the last election. No ethnic group, besides African-Americans has remained so loyal to the Democratic party. But there is a deeper story here that bears some further discussion.
First is the point made Peter Beinart, viz. that George Bush has effectively ended the “Jewish vote.”
“The term ‘Jewish vote’ implies a shared political perspective that binds Jews more to one another than to gentiles. In this sense, there has not been an “Episcopalian vote” or a “Catholic vote” for a long time. In the 1950s Christian denominations meant something at the polling booth. Catholics and Southern Baptists generally voted Democratic. Episcopalians and other main-line Protestants, especially in the North, voted Republican. But starting in the 1970s, religious denomination began to matter less — and religious intensity to matter more and more.”
Reinert points out that for the first time Jews will be split along religious lines. Jewish fundamentalists will join their Christian bretheren and vote for George Bush. In fact, as the Ha’aretz article points out, evidence seems to indicate that Bush got 75% of the vote in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
“A highly regarded political consultant in New York, Ze’ev Furst, said Wednesday that voting patterns in the Jewish community drew a dividing and divisive line between the Orthodox segment and the rest of the community.”
“‘In the current elections, Orthodox Jews played within the community the role of evangelicals in the general electorate,’ Furst said. The difference is that evangelicals make up about 40 percent of America’s population, while the percentage of Orthodox members in the Jewish community does not exceed 10 percent.”
As noted in yesterday’s post Bush’s election is precisely about the rise of fundamentalism and irrational messianic religions. It is no surprise that the irrational end of the Jewish spectrum has aligned with Bush. They too are homo-phobes, anti-women and anti-democracy.
But this should put to rest the claim that the “Jewish vote” is behind Bush & Co’s heavy tilt to Israel. Bush & Co don’t give a rat’s ass about the “Jewish vote.” In the days when the East and West Coast were considered electoral prizes up for grabs, the Jewish vote was important. Jews tend to live in highly urbanized areas and could effect the election outcome in a close election.
But two trends have occurred. First, Jews are more widely dispersed throughout the country than they were twenty or even ten years ago. Secondly, the dense urban areas where Jews still tend to congregate are written off by the Republicans. Bush & Co pander to the evangelicals.
It is the evangelicals, not the Jews that are the source of Bush & Co’s unwavering support for the policies of Ariel Sharon. And this support comes not from any deep love of Jews or the Jewish state, but from bizarre and inherently anti-Jewish beliefs about the rapture.
The Republican party has traditionally been anti-Jewish. When Republicans talk about “liberals” they are using a code word for Jews. Jews, since they came to this country, have been the vanguard in progressive causes such as unions and civil rights. Causes such as these are anathema to the right. Marx was a Jew and many Jews were leaders in the communist movement around the world. The virulent anti-communism of the Republican right is intimately tied up with deep anti-Jewish feelings. It is no surprise that Hitler was a hero for these people.
In more recent years, Republicans think of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization they despise, as ACL-Jew. Deep Jewish involvement in the civil rights movement aligned Jews with another group the right hates - African-Americans.
In terms of the culture wars, there are also deep anti-Jewish sentiments. When Republicans talk about “Hollywood culture” they mean “Jewish” culture. The major Hollywood studios were founded and run by Jews - Sam Goldwyn, Jack and Harry Warner, Louis B. Mayer. Jews created the three major American television networks, William Paley’s CBS, David Sarnoff’s NBC and Leonard Goldenson’s ABC. Which is why Republicans use the code word “liberal media” to indicate Jewish “domination” of the media. And not surprisingly, in the South, they call the home of the “liberal” media, where I live, “Jew York.” When Republicans talk about the “coastal elites” they mean Jews. When they talk about “intellectuals” with disdain, they mean Jews.
This type of anti-Jewish coding indicates the deep roots of anti-Jewish sentiment in the United States. This is a paricularly Protestant phenomenon. While Irish and Italian and Jewish immigrants all fought each other and called each other nasty names, they worked side by side in the union halls. The Protestant nativists hated them all, but Jews most of all. In fact, research indicates that the U.S. was far more anti Jewish than pre-war Nazi Germany. Those anti-Jewish feelings did not go away. They just were cleaned up with politically correct language.
The evangelicals “rapture” is just the icing on the cake. Not only do they resent Jewish “domination” of American culture, but they long for a war between Muslims and Jews as the Armageddon which will bring about Jesus’ second coming. It is incredibly bizarre that fundamentalist Jews overlook the fact that their Christian compatriots want them all dead, and focus on their commonalities. Strange bedfellows indeed. Religious Jewish activists are more fired up about the alleged crimes of the Catholic Church in World War II, than the real and present danger of evangelical xenophobia.
In the cultural war against fundamentalism, Jews are in the vanguard. They still are the most secular and progressive group in the U.S., not-withstanding Orthodox Jews which are a small minority and certainly not-withstanding the neo-cons which are a tiny minority of “court Jews.”
There are several important implications of this analysis. Firstly, progressives should stop blaming Jews for Bush & Co and their policies. Even if progressives don’t intend it to sound anti-Jewish, such blame misses the mark completely. The neo-cons are a tool in Bush & Co’s hands to give “intellectual” backing to their policies. Israel as well, is a tool of Bush & Co’s policies, not the other way around.
Secondly, pro-peace and anti-Sharon Jewish progressives should not feel so timid about forcefully expressing their views. The Jewish vote in this election clearly indicates that American Jews understand that Bush & Co and his policy of giving a free hand to Sharon has been a disaster for Israel.
Even the majority in Israel understand this. But Israeli Jews aren’t going to be “holier than the Pope.” Since Bush is such a good friend and supporter of Sharon, Israelis aren’t going to give him the boot. Bush’s re-election is a disaster of epic proportions in the Israel/Palestine conflict. Arafat’s impending death, which is an opportunity to shake up the impass, will be another opportunity killed by Sharon and his good buddy Bush.
Bush & Co rule by fear. They play on people’s worst emotions. And if you stand against them, they viciously attack back with smear and fear. But precisely because Bush & Co’s rule via fear plays on xenophobia against Jews, Muslims and African-Americans, these communities need to reach out to each other and work together. Progressives must unite around this slogan: “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” And then, we must also remember this famous union chant: “the people, united, will never be defeated!”
Tags: Jews, US Politics
