The graph above demonstrates that Jews have been in love with the Democratic Party for quite some time. Jewish affection for the Democrats has averaging better than 70%. With a couple of brief dalliances frolicking in the red light district, the romance between Jews and Democrats continues despite a slight Obama induced tiff in 2012. As a Jew who has strayed from the blue side of town, I have had the advantage of experiencing love affairs on both sides of the tracks. To review the evolution of my affections check out About Me.
The question isn’t why my affections have flowed from left to right, but why haven’t more Jews seen the light. Like clock work, whenever I meet conservative Christians, especially those who are profoundly committed to Israel, they inquire, “why don’t Jews get it, how can they support the Democrats?”
Actually, there are lots of reasons; some based on a Democratic Party that no longer exists and others grounded in familiarity and security. The Democratic Party of 1960 is long gone. Jewish affections cling to old relationships moved by lingering sentimentalities unrelated to current circumstances.
Jews are and have been a minority everywhere they have lived outside of Israel. More often then not that minority status has rendered them targets. Mistreatment of Jews has spanned the spectrum from intolerance to genocide. America is a rare and charished exception. It seems natural that Jews would side with the party that labels itself the champion of the underdog. Democrats have done a great job of propagandizing that message by pandering to minorities. With the help of the media their brand has been set in cement.
I talk ad nauseam about the branding issues that limit conservative inroads into the Jewish community. Usually it falls on deaf ears among those whose major concern is ideology. I know that conservative economics and policies produce the most efficient and effective ways to help the least among us. I understand that the left is in bed with Israel’s enemies. But we have done a miserable job of communicating those concepts in compassionate and human terms.
Before all my conservative friends give me a hard time, I know about the historic Democratic Party support for slavery, Jim Crow and their current expression through policy of the “soft bigotry of lower expectations”. Minorities have suffered under Democratic policies. Detroit, Chicago and Baltimore are among the many cities that prove that point. Most Jews either don’t know or don’t care. They separate the era of bigoted southern Democrats from the rest of the coastal party regulars who trumpet their commitment to income redistribution.
Jews are proponents of the welfare state. They find little distinction between the Jewish imperative for charitable giving and taxpayer funded “giving”. Tikkum olam is the Jewish obligation to “repair the world”. It has been co-opted to encompass both private giving and taxation of the “rich”. The fact that the later is coerced, often wasteful and ineffective escapes their gaze. Above all else, it feels good, relieves guilt and inflates self-esteem.
Jews do not read Thomas Sowell and thus don’t understand the problems created by stage one thinking. Stage one thinking, is at the very heart of Jewish politics. If you mean well and give (legally coerce other taxpayers to “give”), then results are of little note. Jews read Thomas Freidman and Paul Krugman for confirmation. Genuine open-minded inquiry is rare.
Emotional fulfillment is a big part of what binds Jews to Democrats. I know this first hand. It was virtually impossible for me to examine Republicans and conservatives objectively until I was ready to leap over the emotional hurdle separating me from the politics of my family, temple, school, media and associations. My sense of belonging would have to change. For many Jews this is too painful a price to pay.
Jews have suffered under totalitarian and theocratic rule for centuries. They viewed socialism as a system that would end the persecution. Jewish life has been very communal. The founders of Israel were primarily socialists. It made perfect sense for them to lean in the direction of the party that leans left. In the continuing battle between liberty and equality, Jews tend to be more concerned with equality. Having suffered inequality for millennia, this too seemed to make sense.
Jews remember the “America First” crowd that lobbied to stay out of W.W. II. Those voices came primarily from prominent people on the right. While the ovens were heating up, American conservatives lobbied for America to stay out of Europe’s war.
Many Jews came to America with very little. They worked in sweat–shops where abuse was rampant. Hence, not only did they side with unions, they became union leaders. Jews cling to unions to this day. We know about the unholy alliance between unions and the Democratic Party. This is but one more emotional bond based on history and traditions that don’t reflect the world of 2015.
Then there’s the primacy of abortion as a “right.” Among most Jewish women, abortion “rights” are sacrosanct. They are far more likely to defend abortion, detached from any rights for the child, than argue for the Jewish covenant with God. The psychology behind these feelings eludes me. But I have encountered them too often to fail to comment on this immovable irrationality.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, represents this sentiment perfectly. When asked about aborting a seven-pound baby she responded, “I support letting women and their doctors make this decision without government getting involved.”
We’ve all know people who will cling to a romantic partner based on a relationship that should have ended. We can reason with them about the destructive nature of the relationship, but objective reasoning is ignored because they are deeply invested in the relationship. The longer the marriage the more difficult it is to leave. That my friends is a metaphor that in part explains why large numbers of Jews cling to a love affair that should have ended long ago.