CAMPAIGN ’88 : U.S. Jews Left-Leaning

American Jews remain well to the left on America’s political spectrum, with those calling themselves Democrats outnumbering professed Republicans by a more than 4-1 ratio, the American Jewish Committee reported Friday.

At the same time, according to a survey conducted for the committee, American Jews are anxious about anti-Semitism in the United States and worry that the nation may stop being a firm ally of Israel.

The survey of 1,252 Jews and 1,217 non-Jews was conducted last spring for the committee by Steven Cohen, professor of sociology at Queens College in New York. Overall, the survey found that Jews tend far more than non-Jews to think of themselves as liberals and Democrats. It also found serious concerns among Jews over the role of Jackson.

Asked which party’s presidential ticket they would support if Jackson were not on the ticket, the Democratic Party enjoyed a 58%-16% majority. With Jackson on the ticket, that changed to 44% to 24% in favor of the Republicans.

“Of course, these results cannot be taken as face-value predictions of the electorate in November,” Cohen said. “They were collected in April and May, long before many voters had decided or even knew for sure who would be on the tickets.

“But they do give us some indication of the kinds of concern American Jews bring to the voting booth.”