A country-wide survey of more than 3,000 Jews and gentiles found that a higher percentage of the Jewish population than the White population plans to vote for Obama (67 percent of Jews vs Gattaca download. 37 percent of Whites).

When Stephen Cohen and Sam Abrams, associates of NYU’s Berman Jewish Policy Archive, presented their findings at the Puck Building on Monday, my first question was, what’s the point of all this? Why do we care about the breakdown of Jewish voting tendencies? My question was answered when Abrams said, “You social democrats, you have a lot of work to do. This is not a population you have in your pocket.”The Democrats need to continue wooing the American Jewish population. In the past, Jews were largely loyal to the Democratic Party, but in this election, with rumors flying around about Obama’s religion, friends, and motives, many pro-Democrat, Jewish voters may be taking a step back. Voters like Reba Shimansky.

Shimansky, a self-identified Jewish senior citizen, brought up Obama’s association with alleged anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright, and the “Anti-Semitic church [Obama] belonged to,” and how this may affect the way Jews vote. Shimansky also made it a point to distinguish between being pro-Democrat and pro-Obama. The woman was clearly not an Obama fan.

The study revealed that issues alone do not explain why so many members of the Jewish community are voting for Obama. According to Cohen, since Israel was ranked eighth in the list of important issues, McCain’s reputation as a supporter of Israel should actually be causing Jews to “vote the other way.”

As Abrams said, social network and upbringing have a lot to do with political identity, and in fact, spouses and family can have a significant impact on a person’s voting patterns.

A week ago, Sarah Silverman initiated “the Great Schlep,” to encourage the Jewish youth to talk their grandparents into voting for Obama. According to the study though, Silverman actually had it backwards! Older Jews are more likely to vote for Barack Obama than their younger counterparts.

Still, there exist anomalies like Shimansky, and if you put enough anomalies into one state, you’ll get a repeat of the 2000 elections.

So Sarah Silverman and Natalie Portman had it right. Surveys are for campaign managers. The rest of you, continue schlepping to wherever your McCain-supporting relatives may be. This country is in a serious need for change, and I’m not talking about a $150,000 change in wardrobe.

Photo: flickr courtesy of BlueHairGroup.