Why is Nevada’s Jewish Community Supporting Clinton?

The American Jewish establishment feels much more comfortable with a Clinton candidacy than it is with an Obama candidacy

By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent  

In the exit poll there were 1098 respondents. This means that it had 55 Jewish respondents, 37 or 38 of them voted for Clinton, 13 to 14 voted for Obama, 2 or 3 for John Edwards.  

1.

The sample is small, but look at these numbers from Nevada:

5% of the voters were Jewish.

Of these 5%, 67% voted for Hillary Clinton and only 25% for Barack Obama. In this exit poll there were 1098 respondents. This means that it had 55 Jewish respondents, 37 or 38 of them voted for Clinton, 13 to 14 voted for Obama, 2 or 3 for John Edwards.

2.

A small sample, but a very large margin, or as one of Hillary Clinton’s fanatics wrote to me: “if the sample was too small, they wouldn’t report it”. The 55 Jewish respondents represent a Jewish community that is growing rapidly. According to a study from last year, in Las Vegas alone there are some 89,000 persons who live in 42,000 Jewish households. Of the 89,000 persons in Jewish households, 67,500 persons (76%) are Jewish.

3.

In the 2004 election cycle Jews were 4% of respondents to the exit polls. 35% of them voted for Bush rather than John Kerry. One possible conclusion: Jews in Nevada are generally more conservative than the national Jewish average (the Jewish national number for Bush was 25%), and that is why they have voted for Clinton rather than Obama.

On the other hand: the conservative Jews could have voted in the Republican caucuses.  

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/946326.html

2008-01-21