January 22, 2003
SOWING THE WIND:
Why Jews and blacks vote Democrat (Dennis Prager, 1/21/03, Jewish World Review)The odds are that you have wondered at one time or another why the great majority of Jews and nearly all blacks vote Democrat. There are, after all, no other ethnic or racial groups that so overwhelmingly and consistently vote either Republican or Democrat.Moreover, given Jewish values and given blacks' views on a host of important social issues, there is really no compelling reason for blacks and Jews to vote Democrat.
Let us begin with the Jews. Judaism, like every great religion, is essentially conservative: Judaism demands obedience to a judging G-d and to a moral code set forth thousands of years ago. That is why the more orthodox a Jew is religiously, the less likely he is to be a liberal politically; and the more likely he is to vote Republican. Furthermore, the dominant Jewish issue, the security and survival of the Jewish state, is also unlikely to orient a Jew politically leftward. Even sociologically, Jews voting instinctively Democratic makes little sense. Jews, more than many, consider it shameful to rely on others for welfare, raise their children to believe in hard work, and benefit from a merit-based society. Indeed, even those Jews who vote Democratic usually lead rather conservative lives.
As for blacks, their virtually unanimous voting for the Democratic Party makes even less sense. For one thing, most blacks tend to have socially conservative views (considerably more so than their fellow Democrats). Blacks tend to be religious, have traditional views on homosexuality and abortion, and believe in school vouchers, a policy strongly opposed by the party nearly all of them vote for. [...]
Clearly then, it is not Democratic Party positions that explain why so many Jews and blacks vote Democrat. Something deeper must be at work.
That something is fear in the case of Jews and anger in the case of blacks. And both the Jews' fears and the blacks' anger are a result of their respective collective memories.
One of the reasons that these groups can afford to vote Democrat is because the Republican Party--which is ideologically driven, as opposed to the Democrats who are coalition and interest driven--will continue to support issues like vouchers and Zionism regardless of who benefits. The danger for these groups though is that when an issues comes up that the GOP does not have a strong ideological bias for or against it will be very difficult to convince Republicans that they should adopt a position favored by a group that consistently opposes them. So, for instance, Jewish or black groups seeking increased funding for research on Tasachs or Sickle Cell would have no reason to expect a favorable hearing in a Republican-controlled Washington other than simple decency. In politics it's never a good idea to be stuck depending on your opponents' decency. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 22, 2003 4:08 PM
On the Tay-Sachs thing, though, Cajuns tend to vote Republican nationally, and Cajuns are as susceptible
as Jews are.
Trust me. I had nightmare about this a year or so ago.
On the Tay-Sachs thing, though, Cajuns tend to vote Republican nationally, and Cajuns are as susceptible
as Jews are.
Trust me. I had this nightmare about this a year or so ago.
The reason Blacks vote for Democrats like Russians voting for Stalin is that their leaders, who , after all , have a long tradition of buying and selling their followers, have been totally bought off by the notion of big government. The Jews are trickier. I've been told that Jews should be anti-gun because people who like guns are anti-semites. People who feel like outsiders sometime feel the need to lash out. I hope they get over it.
Posted by: Lou Gots at January 22, 2003 5:57 PMI've been told that Jews should be pro-gun so that they can take at least one SS trooper with them.
Posted by: David Cohen at January 22, 2003 6:10 PMHow about this.. Ray Dixon, a black man in New York who shot and killed an intruder in his house defending his famly, is being prosecuted for not registering his gun, the liberals are stringing up an innocent black man who was defending his home because to protect him would interfere with their crusade against the second amendment. Not a word is heard from Al Sharpton. Does he not think this man is at least as deserving of support at Rodney King and Tawanna Brawley? I guess not when Al can get more ink by sucking up to the NARAL as part of his presidential campaign. Where is Jesse Jackson? guess he can't find a way to make a buck off this one. If the GOP are so racist, why is Dixon getting more support from Sean Hannity than all black civil rights leaders COMBINED??
Posted by: MarkD at January 22, 2003 7:18 PMThe Dixon story is amazing. As I understand it
, he found the intruder in his son's bedroom and was being charged when he shot. The DA seems to accept that the shooting was legitimate and that the gun was purchased legally, but since it had not yet been registered, is considering prosecuting Dixon.
I'll bet an internal organ that W pardons him if he's convicted.
Posted by: oj at January 22, 2003 10:42 PMI thought Jews voted Democrat because
1) as immigrants they worked in trades like the garment industry which were heavily unionised and thus naturally Democratic
2) they emigrated from countries where socialism was a popular alternative to the current order of things particularly since socialism deemphasised religion, which had made Jews popular targets for hate throughout history.
Ali:
Jews certainly have a history of socialism, the big question is why they didn't abandon it after seeing how socialists like the French, Nazis and Soviets treated them.