Posted by
J-GOP on Friday, November 07, 2008 10:05:57 AM
Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matt Brooks issued the following statement today:
"The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulates President-elect Barack Obama on his hard-fought victory. Throughout this election, the Republican Jewish Coalition raised critical policy issues in the Jewish community. The RJC is proud of the role we played in facilitating this important debate. In a very challenging and unprecedented political year, the GOP maintained the inroads it has made in the Jewish community.
"Compared to John Kerry's results four years ago, Obama increased his level of support among all voters. Yet Obama's gains among Jewish voters were smaller than among other key demographic groups.
"Among Catholic voters, African-American voters, and Latino voters, Obama's numbers increased from a range of 7 to 13 points compared to John Kerry's numbers four years ago. Yet his increase among Jewish voters was only 4 points ahead of Kerry's numbers in 2004. Nor did Obama's increase exceed the support that Democrats achieved in 1992, 1996 and 2000. This data clearly shows that there are still nagging doubts in the Jewish community about how President-elect Obama will lead on important issues affecting the Jewish community and our national security.
"Because of these doubts, and the unprecedented efforts of the Republican Jewish Coalition to foster a national debate about issues of critical importance to the Jewish community, many Democratic entities such as the Obama for President campaign, the National Jewish Democratic Council, J-Street and the Jewish Council for Education and Research, spent massive amounts of resources to reach the Jewish community - a constituency where they normally spend few resources on outreach efforts.
"The Republican Jewish Coalition's aggressive efforts to inform the Jewish community ensured a vigorous debate about key policy issues. The Democrats were forced to address the concerns the Jewish community has with the policies of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. While we are disappointed with the overall outcome of the election, the Republican Jewish Coalition is pleased that the GOP maintained the recent inroads, at the national level, it has made in the Jewish community.
"It is our hope that President-elect Obama will support policies that strengthen America and Israel. As we move forward, the RJC will maintain its role as an important voice engaging in substantive discourse on the issues of critical importance to the Jewish community."
You can see their report via this link: