November 4: President Obama

Senator Barack Hussein Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona on this date in 2008 to become the 44^th president of the United States and the first mixed-race person to achieve that office. Obama received 78 percent of the Jewish vote, despite right-wing rumor-mongering that he was a “secret Muslim” and a non-citizen, and despite the fact that McCain was heavily favored among Israeli Jewish voters. The Jewish vote, which constitutes about 4 percent of the popular vote, was second only to the African-American vote in favoring Obama. In an American Jewish Committee poll taken before the election, Jews ranked Israel as only the eighth most important in determining their votes, surpassed by health care, energy, taxes, education, and other issues, and only 15 percent, mostly Orthodox Jews, named Israel as among their top three issues. The ten states with the highest Jewish population account for 244 electoral votes of the 270 needed for victory. In Florida, with 29 electoral votes, Jews are about 3.4 percent of the population but between 5 and 8 percent of those who vote.
“When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties’ nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America. One believes a woman’s right to choose should be protected for future generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of Supreme Court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision. One recognizes marriage equality as consistent with America’s march of freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side of history.” —Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, November 1, 2012