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Identity versus Identity: Israel and Evangelicals and the Two-Front War for Jewish Votes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2009

Eric M. Uslaner  and
Mark Lichbach
Eric M. Uslaner*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland—College Park
Mark Lichbach*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland—College Park
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Eric M. Uslaner, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland—College Park, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: [email protected]; or Mark Lichbach, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: [email protected]
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Eric M. Uslaner, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland—College Park, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: [email protected]; or Mark Lichbach, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Republicans made major efforts to win a larger share of the Jewish vote in 2004 by emphasizing their strong support for Israel. They partially succeeded, but did not make a dent in the overall loyalty of American Jews to the Democratic party, since they lost approximately as many votes because of Jews' negative reactions to the party's evangelical base. We argue that both Israel and worries over evangelical influence in the country reflect concerns about Jewish identity, above and beyond disagreements on specific social issues. We compare American Jewish voting behavior and liberalism to the voting behavior of non-Jews in 2004 using a survey of Jews from the National Jewish Democratic Coalition and the American National Election Study. For non-Jews, attitudes toward evangelicals are closely linked to social issues, but for Jews this correlation is small. The Jewish reaction to evangelicals is more of an issue of identity and the close ties of evangelicals to the Republican Party keep many Jews Democratic. Attitudes toward evangelicals are far more important for Jewish voting behavior than for non-Jewish voters.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , December 2009 , pp. 395 - 419
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2009

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