Sh'ma on The Jewish Electorate 2012

Never in recent memory has Israel — or Jews in general — loomed so large on the national political scene. The reasons for this attention can’t be demographic — at about 2 percent of the population, our votes aren’t significant; and despite the disproportionate financial support provided by Jews for political causes, neither is our money. Part of the reason is the perceived distance in some quarters between the Obama administration and Israel, coupled with the rise of a sabre-rattling, nuclear agile Iran, which some feel presents Israel with an existential threat. But this is far from the only reason. Do Jews vote as a block? Is that pattern changing in this election cycle? Several writers examine the determining features of Jewish voting patterns — historically and regionally — and others return to the To what degree does Israel, as a singular issue, really move Jewish voters? This expanded issue of Sh’ma takes a careful look at these questions as we hurtle toward 2012.