For months now we’ve seen fretting over the meme that Jews would be scared into voting for McCain--that Jews would abandon the Democratic party because of fears over Israel, fears over Jeremiah Wright, paranoia over Muslim rumors, love of Lieberman, Pennsylvania Republican mailers, etc. Caley Ben-David worried that the "rock-solid Israel-supporter" McCain might "surpass the Jewish-vote record for a GOP presidential contender– especially if his opponent is Barack Obama." Well, funny thing is . . .
Despite the tense rift between Republican and Democratic Jews over the course of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, exit polls on Tuesday showed that Barack Obama received about 77 percent of the Jewish vote.
Ben Smith:
For all the ink and money spilled on McCain's hopes of making inroads into the Jewish vote, exit polls suggest Obama won the demographic by a margin even higher than John Kerry's, and like Al Gore's and Bill Clinton's.
The exits currently have it at 78 percent to 21 percent.
So let me make this absolutely clear: it was a Jew who warned ancient Israel against trampling the head of the poor into the dirt and selling them for a pair of shoes; and it was a Jew who said God doesn’t care about fasts and songs, but only about whether you care for the poor; and it was a Jew who said it was harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle; and it was a Jew who said you do unto the poor like you do unto God.
The minute Jews in this country forget the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, the outcast, is the minute they cease being Jews.
Well, I’ve got news : Jews in this election were true to their wonderful history as progressive change agents in this nation. The Jewish spirit of justice and love is alive and well in 2008.
How appropriate, then, that Studs Terkel, American prophet of the poor, died shortly before this election. Today he has handed off his advocacy for the working poor to a new generation.
Let’s pick up that torch and keep running.
I’ll only add one more personal note: when I was a kid, maybe eight or nine, I dreamed of being President. But because I was Jewish, when I play-acted a campaign, I used to make excuses in my mind for being Jewish. I used to say to myself, in faux campaign mode, "I’m an American first, and a Jew second."
Judaism, for me as an eight-year-old, was something to publicly apologize for, something to be ashamed of–-a blot upon my Americanness.
Barack Obama’s win today didn’t bring hope only to African American children. His win transforms shame into pride for millions of Americans of all colors and creeds.
His win was for Latino children.
His win was for Muslim children.
His win was for Asian children.
His win was for Indian children.
His win was for Mormon children.
His win was for Native American children.
His win was for gay and lesbian children.
And his win was for any little Jewish kid, like me, who dares to dream big, who dares to think that this is his or her country too.
A million moments of tiny shame were destroyed yesterday.
And in its place: hope.
Now let’s go heal the world like those old ornery Jews ordered us to.
Peace is calling us now, not fear.