May 1, 2012 | 10:39 am

House Jewish Projection: Adding Bishop vs. Altschuler

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

Last week we posted our first House Projection – one of the items in the new J -Meter, in which we follow races with a Jewish contender, and project the number of ‎Jewish House members after the next election. As we’ve explained, we expect the ‎number of Jewish representatives to go down to 24 following the 2012 November ‎election, from the 27 elected in 2010. ‎

Randy Altschuler (Photo: teamaltschuler)

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Obviously, when such assessment is published, objections arise. And while not many ‎disputed most of what we’ve been saying, a complaint was issued from Republican ‎Jewish quarters over our decision not to include the NY-01 race as one in which ‎potential for Jewish representation exists. New York’s First District is one in which a ‎Jewish Republican contender, Randy Altschuler, was very narrowly beaten in 2010 by ‎the current Congressman Tim Bishop, and is running again. About a month ago, the ‎New York Times described this race as “problematic” for Democrats:‎

Cantor’s Late Intervention

House Majority Leader may have pushed out GOP vet over anti-Jewish remarks

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Why Are American Jews So Liberal?

Enduring Political Message of the Passover Seder

By Jay Michaelson

Why are Jews so liberal?

Every few years, the question gets asked, often with the unspoken follow-up “… and what can we do to change that?” This year, Republican super PACs are drooling with anticipation. If you think the attacks on Mitt Romney by Sheldon Adelson — I mean Gingrich — I mean a Super-PAC that theoretically doesn’t co-ordinate with Gingrich — were mean, just wait until the general election. Israel! The war on religion! The Ground Zero mosque! Anything to wake up the Jews and get them to vote Republican.

What’s more, Jews have every reason to vote Republican. In a series of studies, political scientist Sam Abrams (together with Steven M. Cohen and others) has shown how American Jews’ views on helping the needy, on diplomacy versus war, and on other litmus test issues actually line up with the center, maybe even the center-right, rather than with the left.

Moreover, Jews are, on average, more affluent than most Americans, and political scientists tell us that the more affluent you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican. (More on that below.) When Jews were hawking pickles on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, our Democratic politics made sense. But not now, when we live in gated communities.

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Survey: 62% of U.S. Jews would reelect Obama, 4% say Israel is most important issue

Sixty-two percent of Jewish American voters would like to see U.S. President Barack Obama reelected in November, and only 4% define Israel as the most important issue influencing their vote.

The results emerged as part of a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute based in Washington, D.C.

According to the survey, while only 62% of Jewish voters in the U.S. would like to reelect Obama, 30% would prefer to see a Republican candidate take the upcoming elections.

Study Shows Jewish Vote to Go to Obama

By Jspace Staff on 4/9/2012 at 12:36 PM

Categories: Politics, United States

Speculation has been swirling for months on how the Jewish vote will swing come November. Concerns about Barack Obama’s stance on Israel and sometimes-rocky relationship with Benjamin Netanyahuhave fueled a dialogue in the media and Jewish community, raising questions about who will get the final support of American Jewry. It’s a discussion not without merit, as a possible Republican endorsement would mean a break from the Jewish tradition of supporting Democratic candidates.

Now, a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) aims to shed some light on the subject. In its Jewish Values Survey, the Washington-based group found that 62 percent of Jewish voters plan to put their support behind Obama on Election Day, an exact match to what voters said at the same point during the campaign in 2008.

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