A report published by Jay Schorr of the The Miami Examiner, regarding Governor Mitt Romney’s popularity with Florida’s Jewish community, may have been fabricated.
The report claims that a recently released poll shows Romney capturing the support of 52% of Jewish voters in Florida. According to Schorr, “That’s big news in a state which has seen Jewish voters traditionally and almost without exception support Democratic candidates.”
Schorr’s article further suggests that the reason Jewish voters are turning to Romney is that President Obama had betrayed their trust.
There is some truth to this suggestion. Many members of the Jewish community voiced disappointment in the President’s suggestion that Israel ought to return to its pre-1967 borders. Indeed, Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center notably called Obama’s suggestion a return to “1967 Auschwitz Borders.”
Yet, Obama also gained support from other members of the Jewish community and there is little evidence to indicate that a shift in sentiment on the scale Schorr’s report suggests has occurred.
Furthermore, the report does not seem to hold up under scrutiny. Sam Stein of The Huffington Post reports that few, if any members of the Jewish community in Florida have ever heard of the Florida Coalition of Independent Jewish Congregations (FCIJC), the group Schorr claims conducted the poll. Nor does the group show up in the IRS’s database of non-profit groups. Internet searches for the group turn up nothing aside from references to Schorr’s article.
Meanwhile, Schorr’s defense of the report is sketchy at best. According to Stein, Schorr states that much of what he has heard had been passed down to him “through the grapevine.” He describes the FCIJC as an organization of religious and secular Jewish voters who are not a PAC, but who have an agenda that “seems to be quite political.” Schorr claims the group is “backed by some deep pockets” and that it “pretty much operates under the radar.”
Schorr’s vague explanations, along with the obscurity of the FJIJC have lead many to believe that the Schorr report is a complete fabrication.
Nevertheless, the recent buzz around Schorr’s report underscores the important role Jewish voters will play in the upcoming elections. Republican candidates have been attempting to attract Jewish voters by vowing to “stand with Israel.” The Democrats have also been sending volunteers into Florida to help court Jewish voters well ahead of the general election.
