On April 8, 2020 Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Presidential race and former Vice President Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President. Since then, Joe Biden’s campaign has been forming a litany of outreach groups all dedicated to ensuring that the former city councilman, senator, three time Presidential candidate, and two term Vice President is elected to be the 46th President of the United States. Tens of thousands of students from across the country have banded together to form different committees and groups that all work in tandem to flood media outlets with Joe Biden for President content, phone bank, organize virtual events, contact organizations and individuals to seek endorsements, raise funds for the campaign, and many other activities that help the Biden campaign. Three Fieldston students are fortunate enough to have an outsized role in these efforts.
Asaf Grofman (IV), Asher Zemmel (IV), and Sara Snyder (IV) are all co-founders and national co-chairs of the national organization of Jewish high school students for Biden, as well as leaders of Jews4Joe, the most prominent Jewish outreach sects of the Biden campaign, with over 5,000 members nationwide. These sects of the campaign are very active in engaging with the Jewish community, using a calculated strategy that targets swing state-based Jewish individuals and families. In the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton won 70% of the Jewish-American vote, while President Trump won 25% of the vote. However, when the data is analyzed for swing states, the Jewish community has the potential to be a deciding factor in the 2020 Presidential election.
In the 2016 Presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost the state of Florida by 112,911 votes, a state with a Jewish population of 629,120. In 2000, 79% of Jewish-Americans voted for Al Gore, 74% for John Kerry in 2004, 78% for Barack Obama in 2008, 69% for Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, and 71% for Hillary Clinton in 2016. This recent decrease in Jewish support means that as of late, Jewish-Americans feel less motivated for vote for the Democratic nominee for President, largely due to the fact that there are a growing number of Democratic politicians that oppose causes that are incredibly close to the heart of the Jewish people, especially older Jewish Americans. The good news is that Jews4Joe and JHS4B (Jewish High Schoolers for Biden) have a plan. Of the 629,120 Jewish people that live in Florida, 514,000 live in Southeast Florida. The three counties that account for these 514,000 people are Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach (the most Jewish county in the United States), and chances are you know at least one Fieldston student with grandparents in one of those counties. All three of the aforementioned counties voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but with significantly smaller margins and turnout than Barack Obama in 2008. Our plan in states like Florida is to reach out to synagogues, Jewish groups, Jewish clubs, Jewish businesses, etc… to promote Joe Biden and increase turnout. For example in Florida we have already formed connections with Palm Beach based Jewish led, senior citizen policy discussion groups, synagogues, and country clubs to increase Jewish-Democrat voter turnout in South Florida. In other swing regions like Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia, we are forming connections with regional BBYO groups, which are a large part of Jewish culture in the DMV region. Due to recent events in Texas we believe that the state is competitive for the 2020 election, so we are forming connections with Biden groups and Jewish groups in North Texas and on college campuses, as well as promoting M.J. Hegar’s Senate campaign.
Our movement also relies on strong ties with other student led Joe Biden campaign groups like students for Joe and minority students for Joe, which our groups works with as the Jewish community is 1.7% of the United States population, and 0.2% of the global population. Over the course of the last month the Jews4Joe and Jewish High School Students for Biden movements have grown exponentially because the Jewish community is able to remain extremely well connected to one another due to the emphasis placed upon community throughout history, which has led to the formation of many different identity groups that we work with to promote Joe Biden. We have reached out to synagogues, Jewish youth groups, BBYO chapters, prominent Jewish leaders, and cultivated a large dedicated media following through our newsletters, website, multiple twitter and instagram accounts, and various facebook groups. We believe that our group can help many within the Jewish community feel welcome again in the Democratic party, as well as help elect Joe Biden to the office of President of the United States.
