Fighting over every percentage point: Arguing about the Jewish vote and exit polls
By Ron Kampeas · November 7, 2012
WASHINGTON (JTA) President Obamas Jewish numbers are down, but by how much and why?
Expect four more years of tussling between Jewish Republicans and Democrats about the meaning of Obamas dip from 78 percent Jewish support cited in 2008 exit polls to 69 percent this year in the national exit polls run by a media consortium.
Is it a result of Obamas fractious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Or is it a natural fall-off in an election that was closer across the board than it was four years ago? Does it reflect a significant shift in Jewish voting patterns toward the Republicans?
A separate national exit poll released Wednesday by Jim Gerstein, a pollster affiliated with the dovish Israel policy group J Street, had similar numbers: 70 percent of respondents said they voted for Obama, while 30 percent -- the same figure as in the media consortium's Jewish sample -- said they voted for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
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http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/07/3111381/fighting-over-every-percentile-arguing-about-the-jewish-vote-and-exit-polls