Nationwide, Jews prefer Democrat by 74% to McCain's 22%; Jews in Florida back him by 77%.
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGERObama jews 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Two polls out Thursday show Barack Obama restoring his lead among Jewish voters to their historic Democratic levels, even in the crucial swing state of Florida where the candidate has come under much criticism from the Jewish community.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found Floridian Jews back Obama over Republican rival John McCain by a rate of 77 percent to 20%. And a Gallup survey found that nationwide, Jews prefer Obama by 74% to McCain's 22%.
As opposed to support for Obama among the American population generally, which spiked significantly following the economic crisis, Jewish support has been building gradually since a low of 61% in July, the Gallup tracking found.
The Quinnipiac poll, which looked at several swing states, Florida being among the most crucial, showed McCain's advantage of foreign policy grounds had also suffered in the Sunshine State, with a drop in voters who think he would handle the subject better than Obama (now at 50 versus 44%).
The poll was conducted between October 16 to October 21 with a 2.6% margin of error among 1,433 respondents, though the number of Jewish interviewees was not given. The Gallup poll was conducted between October 1 and October 21 of 564 Jewish voters with a 5% margin of error.
If Obama were to actually garner the three-quarters of the Jewish vote registered in the polls, he would repeat the total haul of John Kerry when he faced off against George Bush in 2004.
That figure is similar to numbers registered in a New York University poll of Jewish voters nationally released earlier this week, but a sharp rise over previous surveys which found Jewish support for Obama closer to two-thirds of the demographic, which historically votes overwhelmingly Democrat.
If Obama has indeed recovered that support, it could prove particularly significant in Florida because of the large number of Jews living there. It also suggests that the Obama campaign has overcome one of its biggest Jewish hurdles, since the constituency there has voiced some of the most persistent and intense criticism of Obama of any Jewish community.
Analysts have suggested that many Jewish Democrats have been more open to Obama as their first choice candidate, Hillary Clinton, endorsed her competitor and faded from the stage, at the same time that McCain's choice of conservative Sarah Palin turned off those who had been considering jumping parties.
Despite Obama's strong draw on the youth vote, the Gallup poll actually found that younger Jews are less likely to support Obama, with only 67% of 18- to 34-year-olds choosing him versus 74% of those over 55. That could stem from the higher rate of Orthodox observance and therefore more conservative views among young Jews, though Gallup found the younger Jews were no more likely to describe their political beliefs as conservative than older voters.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
