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Post-9/11 Drive by Republicans To Attract Jewish Voters Stalls
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"It is now undeniable that there is a major shift taking place among Jewish voters. At this point, the question isn't will more Jews support the president, but rather, how many more will do so?" Brooks declared in January 2004.
Bush's level of support -- 25 percent -- among Jewish voters in November 2004 was far less than that received by Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and by George H.W. Bush in the 1988 election.
Even so, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said the strong loyalty of the Depression-era generation of Jewish voters to Democrats is eroding.
"We have had two presidents, Ronald Reagan and this president, who have addressed anti-Semitism in the world and threats in the world to both America and to Israel with moral clarity," he said. Still, he acknowledged, "we have a lot of work to do."
The 1992 election marked a low point for Jewish support of a Republican presidential candidate, when George H.W. Bush won just 11 percent of that vote.
The senior Bush lost ground when, upset about Israeli settlement policies, he tried to delay $10 billion in loan guarantees to Israel. He then complained about the strength of Jewish lobbyists, charging that they had "a thousand lobbyists on the Hill. . . . We've got one lonely little guy down here doing it."
The opposition grew when an alleged remark by Bush's secretary of state, James A. Baker III -- profanely dismissing the concerns of Jews since "they didn't vote for us anyway" -- drew publicity.
The younger Bush's effort to court Jewish support has political implications beyond votes. Some Republican strategists were convinced they could financially cripple the Democratic Party, which depends heavily on contributions from Jewish donors.
There is little evidence this has happened. Brooks and other Republicans can cite only two examples -- Ameriquest Chairman Roland E. Arnall, who became a major Bush supporter, and Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, who gave $100,000 to the RNC -- of high-profile donors who have traditionally given mostly to Democrats.
They also cite one rising star. Rep. Eric I. Cantor (Va.), the chief deputy whip and the only Jewish Republican in the House, has taken an increasingly visible role in speaking for the GOP before Jewish groups.
