Regardless which reason you accept as to why Republican Turner got such a big percent of the Jewish vote, don’t forget an important thing:
Orthodox Jews (who sixty-seventy percent voted for McCain) are a large percent of the overall ‘Jewish Vote’ results in this specific election, versus in national elections where Orthodox Jews are much less represented in the overall “Jewish Vote” count. As such, the margin of the Jewish Vote breaking Republican in this race is and looks way, way larger than it would had Orthodox Jews in this race been represented in the ‘Jewish Count’ as low as they are in national elections.
Yes, Democrats have a problem with the overall Jewish vote going into 2012, certainly in swings states where every 1,000 votes can make a difference. And yes, Turner and his team did a massive job in getting a huge number of the (Orthodox) Jewish vote which is trending right for some time now. Yes, Orthodox Jews in states from NY, NJ to PA, OH and FL are willing to vote Republican and candidates better court this base. But no. The NY-9 results do not suggest by any measure that the 78% of the 2008 nationwide Jewish Vote is ready to go 78% Republican in 2012.
Bottom line: It’s indeed time for The White House to panic over the Jewish money, em er… Jewish votes. But no. The political staff does not yet need to jump off the Chicago building which serves as Obama’s Election HQ.
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