This morning's Post claims the DeLay and Abramoff scandals are hurting the GOP with Jewish voters. I'm not sure if that's true, or not.
It may affect things on the margins, but the real problem is the same problem we've been confronting all along...
Although the conservative movement - and the Republican Party, in general - have been (for the last forty years) the pro-Israel party, many Jewish voters fear politicians who wear their Christianity on their sleeve.
Frankly, some Jewish voters have decided a secular party (the Democrat Party) is safer for them than a Christian party (Republican).
Of course, I totally disagree with that conclusion.
Christian theology actually says the Jews are God's chosen people (which explains why so many conservative politicians are so pro-Israel.) ...And many on the Left are hostile to all people of faith - not just Christians...
But it doesn't matter what I think.
By the way, this problem has caused many a frustrated GOPer to throw his hands up in the air and shout:
"It's just not logical that all these groups keep voting for the Democrats, when polling shows they agree with us on the issues!"
...Well, who ever said voting was a matter of logic? It isn't.
The GOP can continue to make real good logical arguments about how the GOP is the logical choice for Jewish voters, Hispanic voters, Black voters, etc. And we can talk till we are blue in the face.
So why does this problem persist?
The bottom line is that voters - no matter what race - make our decisions based on emotion ... not logic!
When we are surprised that our "logical" arguments fail, we are forgetting a fundamental rule of politics:
"Logic leads to conclusions, but emotion leads to action."
Many voters (regardless of race) have strong emotional ties to the Democrat Party. And many younger conservatives may not appreciate the fact that years ago some in the Republican Party did earn a bad reputation regarding race relations.
So it's no surprise that strong emotions last for years. And the truth is that it takes time to change emotions. I don't have a silver bullet, here. There's no quick fix. I believe we are moving in the right direction. But it will take time...
