US Jews will back 'anyone but Bush'
US Jews would overwhelmingly support any major Democratic candidate over President George Bush if the election were held today, according to the Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion.
Joe Lieberman, the only Jewish candidate, would defeat Republican Bush by the largest margin, 71% to 24%, the poll found.
In one-on-one matchups with the president, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, John Kerry and Richard Gephardt would each receive about 60% of the Jewish vote, compared to about 30% for Bush, according to the survey conducted for the American Jewish Committee.
American Jews tend to vote Democrat, and 66% said they backed Al Gore in the 2000 race.
Still, Republican leaders have been courting Jews, and the poll did find a slight increase in the percentage who considered themselves Republican, from 9% in 2000 to 16% in 2004.
There are about 5.2 million Jews in the United States, according to National Jewish Population Survey.
