American Jews Would Back Democrat Over Bush

American Jews would overwhelmingly back any of the top Democrats in the presidential race over President George W. Bush if the election were held today, according to a poll published recently.

The 2004 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion concluded that Sen. Joe Lieberman would defeat Bush by the largest margin, 71 percent to 24 percent. Lieberman is the only Jewish candidate.

In one-on-one matchups with the president, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri each would receive about 60 percent of the Jewish vote, compared with about 30 percent for Bush.

The GOP has been reaching out to Jewish voters, and while 16 percent now consider themselves Republicans, more than half are Democrats.