My friend and perpetual inspiration Mickey Kaus questions or at least wonders out loud about a Pew poll which says that among ‘secular Democrats’ 28 percent sympathized with the Palestinians and 26 percent sympathized with the Israelis in the current round of ritual bloodletting. Let me quote the master at length:
I note the I’m a secular Democrat. Many of my friends are secular Democrats. And I don’t think any of them would have told a pollster, since the suicide bombings began, that they “sympathized with the Palestinians” over the Israelis, even if they supported Palestinian’s long-term aspirations to statehood. … Keep in mind, the result for all those polled (in the Post-ABC survey Kohut seems to be talking about) was 49-14 in favor of Israel. … There must be something funny in how “secular Democrat” is defined. Do you have to actively check off a box labeled “secular”? Are you denied “secular” status if you ever set foot in a church or synagogue? … Either the Post-ABC poll is screwed up, or advocates for the Palestinians have been more successful than anyone thought. One Zogby or another has reason to be happy. But which one? …
Isn’t there a frighteningly straightforward answer to this mystery? Mickey is JEWISH. His friends are disproportionately JEWISH compared to the rest of the population. As Seinfeld would say, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m Jewish too. But I think this is the answer to the mystery.
