I posted a thread on X (@joelpollak) about the Jewish vote. Here's what I said.
Some thoughts on the Jewish vote.
You should not believe polls that tell you Trump is winning the Jewish vote, especially polls with small samples and large margins of error.
Here is what you are more likely to see, given Harris's VP choice and other developments. (1/5)
Trump will do very well with Jews, given 1) his record on Israel; 2) Biden's perceived weakness on Israel; 3) Harris's snub of Josh Shapiro; 4) acute fears of left-wing antisemitism; 5) reduced fears of right-wing antisemitism.
But the ceiling for Trump among Jews is 40%. (2/5)
Many Jews are dogmatically loyal to the Democratic Party. The reasons have to do with self-perception, i.e. being seen as on the side of "social justice," both for narcissistic reasons and self-preservation in big cities; and about irrational fear of Christian conservatism. (3/5)
I'd say one-third of liberal Jews care enough about Israel and antisemitism (as opposed to abortion) to consider voting for Trump. Maybe half will actually do so. The rest have been persuaded by demonization of JD Vance and Kamala Harris happyjoy to stay with the Democrats. (4/5)
But if 1/10 to 1/6 of Jewish Democrats flip Republican, that could have an impact -- thousands of votes -- in Pennsylvania, and maybe Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan... In a close race...
Trump won't win the Jewish vote but could win enough of it to make a difference. (5/5)
This week's show will be slightly different from the norm: we'll focus on clips and topics, rather than guests -- and that, hopefully, will mean more input from the callers (unless you are all watching football on opening weekend).
Topics:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET / 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
