Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) said Thursday that President Obama would win the Jewish vote in her home state of Florida, pushing back against fears within the party that the president was beginning to lose a key constituency.
"The natural home for Jewish voters, both domestically in terms of policy and our Israel policy, is the Democratic Party and President Obama as our candidate," Schultz said on Fox News.
Schultz rejected the belief that a recent loss in New York City's 9th district, a heavily Jewish area that had been in Democratic control for decades, was indicative of Jewish frustration with the administration over support for Israel.
"Overwhelmingly, Jewish voters support President Obama and his policies," Wasserman Schultz said. "And the Israeli leadership consistently, before yesterday and including yesterday, have said that President Obama has been an unshakable ally of Israel."
Schultz went on to praise the president's speech Wednesday before the United Nations when he urged the body not to recognize Palestine as a state, circumventing peace negotiations with Israel.
The DNC chairwoman went on to predict that Obama would carry Florida — with its high proportion of Jewish voters — in the 2012 election.
"Whether you're an independent, a Democrat or a moderate Republican, Floridians understand that President Obama has been fighting hard to create jobs, to get this economy turned around," Wasserman Schultz said. "We need to work together and we need the Republicans to stop allowing themselves to be controlled by the extremists and the Tea Party. That's why he'll win Florida."
