As Democratic-leaning organizations and voting blocs throw their lot with Hamas, what do liberal Jews and other traditional Democrats do?
The mainstream press has made much of the Republican party moving more towards the right on issues such as the border, abortion, foreign affairs, policing, and economic policy. People like Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney seem to be completely out of step with today’s Republican voters. While 20 years ago, they fit right in with a Chamber of Commerce-friendly Republican party, today they appear to be in a very small minority that does not buy into Trumpian positions such as controlled borders, limited foreign engagements, and a tough line on Chinese mercantilism.
But what about the Democrats? The party of Kennedy and Clinton seems almost unrecognizable. Abortion until birth or maybe third grade is the ground floor for the party. The left-leaning wing that controls party policy wants no enforcement on the southern border, kisses up to China, and supports every social cause from BLM to climate change to trans “women” clobbering real women in sports. There seems very little place for mainstream Democrats of old who would definitely have supported controlled immigration and a clear recognition that men and women are different. Many workers have left the Democratic party, as they have found Republicans more supportive of their economic well-being in the age of offshoring and Chinese dominance in many industrial fields. They would probably say that the party of Silicon Valley billionaires and left-wing activists left them first.
So where do traditional liberals go? I think about many Jews I know, both family and friends, who have always voted for the Democratic candidates. While orthodox Jews over the past decade have broken for the Republican party with 90% support, this slice of the American Jewish community is still relatively small. The vast majority of American Jews identify as unaffiliated, Reform, and Conservative, in that order. They have strongly supported candidates like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The Republicans and their positions have been an anathema for them, and large majorities have voted against them forever. The question today is if anything has changed. Many here in Israel on the left, after the brutal murders on 10/7, have expressed positions with respect to Hamas to the right of the most right-leaning politicians. Will there be a similar movement in America?
There can be no serious question that all of the crowds marching in favor of Hamas and seeking the destruction of Israel (what else can “from the river to the sea” imply?) will vote Democratic if they vote at all. BLM, trans, feminists, Muslims, and college liberals are all definitely Democrat-leaning, more in the Bernie Bro wing than the Joe from Scranton Biden department of the party. So the question is will liberals, including many Jews who go to a Conservative or Reform synagogue on the Sabbath, continue in their support of Democrats? There is no question that Joe Biden’s original statements and actions were forcefully supportive of Israel. But what of those anti-Jewish groups who make up a large portion of the party—can you vote along with them?
I asked this last question to someone a few weeks ago. Her answer was that Israel was just one subject of many to consider when choosing a potential candidate to support. Abortion is still a major issue in America, and many Democratic voters worry that Republicans will try to limit it either completely or to a degree that they believe is too stringent. So will the murder of Jews in a brutal terror attack and the massive US marches in support of the murderers not be enough to move the needle for Jewish and other liberal voters who have never voted Republican before?
I have watched the protests on US college campuses and have heard stories of Jewish and Israeli students being afraid to leave their rooms. I try to imagine them looking out of their dorm room windows and seeing fellow classmates, maybe even roommates or possibly fellow athletes, holding signs essentially wishing for their demise. Picture an Israeli visiting student hearing the crowd shout that the Zionists must be eliminated, that Hamas’ actions are praiseworthy. A month ago, they ate together in the cafeteria; today, the Israeli wonders if it is not safer in Israel than on the manicured quad of a moral cesspool called an American university.
I have many friends and relatives who traditionally have supported Democrats, and I would want to ask them as the 2024 election cycle approaches how they feel about their vote. Can they march again with BLM the next time the latter claims that a black person was intentionally murdered by a police officer? Can they cut a check for the local chapter of some organization that is aiding illegal entry into the US but also found time to hand out PLO flags to those screaming, “Death to Israel”? Will bygones be bygones? Is it all forgotten? If Trump is the Republican candidate for president, will the threat of his mean tweets, his hair, and his legal baggage be enough to drive even the biggest Israel supporters to simply hold their nose and vote for the same party that is warmly endorsed by Jew-harassing Palestinian student organizations
There is a long time between today and November of next year. But the question is now that hardcore antisemitism has been exposed on the left, on the campuses, and in the organizations that ostensibly have nothing to do with the Middle East, will more traditional Jews and Clinton Democrats simply keep voting Democratic, or are they willing to vote for Republicans who have supported Israel without caveat from day one of the current war? I have not seen any Republican-leaning groups joining the Hamas marches or expressing ill-will towards Jews or Israelis. A lot can happen between today and election day, but what we’ve seen over the past few weeks cannot be unseen or forgotten. US university students, left-leaning organizations, and supposed intellectuals have shown shameless support for the most disgusting murderers in ages (did you hear that paramedics found a baby in an oven when they finally got into the kibbutzim?). Will more traditional voters throw their lot with them or do the unthinkable and vote for a Republican candidate?