WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (JTA) Three out of four Jews favor Democrat Al Gore over Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president, according to a survey released this week by the American Jewish Committee.
The survey, which was conducted in late September, found that 75 percent of Jewish voters would choose the Democrat for president, with 11 percent selecting Bush and 3 percent for consumer advocate Ralph Nader.
The poll of 1,010 Jews did not differentiate between likely voters and nonvoters, like many political tracking polls, and has a 3 percent margin of error. According to the poll, 90 percent of Jews approved of the selection of Joseph Lieberman, the Jewish senator from Connecticut, as Gore’s running mate.
Five percent said they disapproved of the selection and another 5 percent were unsure.
In the survey, Jewish voters also voiced their position on a number of the key issues in this year’s presidential elections.
About 35 percent said they supported the idea of school vouchers to send children to private schools with public money, with 61 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.
Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of government aid to parochial or religious schools.
About two-thirds of those surveyed said they opposed the policy.
On the issue of the death penalty, 67 percent said they supported it for people convicted of murder, while 26 percent opposed it and 8 percent were undecided.
About 62 percent said they think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, with 31 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances and 5 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances.
Of the Jews surveyed, 59 percent said they classified themselves as a Democrat, which 9 percent identified as a Republican and 30 percent were independent.
About 27 percent said they were either “extremely liberal” or “liberal,” while 18 percent said “slightly liberal” and 36 percent said “middle of the road.”
An additional 9 percent identified themselves as “slightly conservative.” The same number were “conservative” or “extremely conservative.”
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