New York – Plenty of excited Democratic voters showed up to vote on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Tuesday sporting Obama-wear, but Orthodox comedian Yisrael Campbell was the only one in the hourlong line on Broadway with side curls dangling from his “Yes We Can” baseball cap.
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Campbell said he was prepared to wait as long as it took to pull the lever inside the West End Theater, but that enthusiasm was missing across the East River in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Williamsburg, where poll workers chatted idly inside the gym at Intermediate School 71 while waiting for voters to turn up.
Turnout was just shy of 20 percent at lunchtime, a far cry from the anticipated 80% rates in other parts of the borough despite a concerted effort by the haredi organization Agudath Israel to register new voters this year for the first time in 20 years.
“It’s dead here,” said Anatoly Eysenberg, a Republican poll inspector who was assigned to the school. He blamed the low turnout on the absence of any contested local races that could provide a draw for voters disinclined to bother unless their votes made a difference.
Tepid get-out-the-vote effort – limited to letters sent home with yeshiva students and SUVs driving around the neighborhood blaring exhortations to vote in Yiddish – may not have been enough to motivate new voters, especially in the absence of any endorsements in the presidential race from hassidic leaders.
The increase in haredi voter registration – about 10,000 new voters, according to Agudath Israel – will likely pay off in future elections, others said.
“They’ll be important in New York the next time there’s a gubernatorial or a Senate race, something where it matters,” said William Daroff, who runs the Washington office of United Jewish Communities. “The focus from the campaigns this time has been on the modern Orthodox in Cleveland, Florida, and Philadelphia, where it can make a difference.”
Back on Broadway, Campbell shrugged when asked why he wasn’t voting in his hometown of Philadelphia, “It’s important that Obama see the Jewish vote – if it comes in strong on the Upper West Side, he’ll know the Jews here supported him,” said Campbell. “We can’t ask him to support Jewish issues if we don’t support him ourselves.”
What total atzlus, and a possible sakanah to the klal C”V, by not voting for McCaim.
In Far Rockaway, voting took 5 minutes.
here comes the kneejerk hatred towards someone even thinking of voting dem
shame shame
Early polls show obama in the lead.
However that is expected to change when the white ppl get out of work
I voted in kensington and there were only about 8 people on line. Next time a yeshiva comes for suoort I will tell them to vote for candiates like McCain who would give vouchers to every parent of yeshiva students. People are lazy to vote but dont mind going around shnorring for their childrens tution.
In New york you can vote till 9 pm in New Jersey you can vote till 8 pm. Where are all the 33 Rabbis who sighned against Lipas concert. Why dont they order everyone to vote today. If every orthodox Jew voted we can make it happen I recall how Satmer and Lubavitch both voted for Mayor David Dinkins and he won by 2 percent here in New york city. Only after 4 years and the crown heights 1991 pogrom did they all wake up and both voted for Guliani and defeated Dinkins by 2 per cent. There is no reason that ny state cant go for McCain. Between the Jews upstate and in the five boros we could make the difference but we are lazy. We dont realize that with one candidate like McCain our tution in yeshivas would be zero. If Obama gets in the gays will force our yeshivas to take them in or lose the legal right to oerate a school like they are doing in other countries and states. This is a very serious election and we sit like sheep to the slaughter. With so much financial pressure and much of it on tution divorce is on the rise in the heimish community. We could tap into so many benefits if we were not so lazy.
There are two more hours left. Lets hope this article is wrong.
Sure #4 sounds a tad racist, but it is factually true, and a keen observation.
I do admire the black folks for voting as a solid block. If you vote like the Jews, all split up, then there is no “THE JEWISH VOTE”, and candidates don’t have to be concerned, because the Jews vote for a hodge podge instead of coming out Loudly with one voice (which would hopefully be for Maccain)
This Campbell guy is the funniest. Everybody check him out on Youtube
8 minutes in midwood
Shame on what? we live in democracy, each individual is entitled to vote for whom ever he feels for, I voted obama, my wife for McCain, I’m ok with that.
bottom line, don’t be so sure that McCain will be better for jewish interests, it may be the opposite, especially since so many yidden voted for Obama.
I’ve been trying to get all of my friends to go out and vote today. And you know what most of them answered? I’m not registered……..
No one showed up to vote at all in Boro Park at the Public School at 16th & 55th. This is their way of silently voting for Obama because he promises free food, free housing, free medicine, free college tuition, free cars, free heating, free Broadway tickets, free Italian shoes, free European wigs, free vacations vouchers to Disney World, free in vitro fertilization…..all paid for by the ever-decreasing taxpayer!
Seems it took obama 15 minutes to vote this morning. he was looking for the ‘present’ button but he couldn’t find it.
I did go vote, and I see many chasidim voting here, some told me they’re voting for Obama, some for McCain. a real mix. but nice idea that everyone can use their own mind and opinion, not influenced by heavy local campaigns.
45 min in Crown Heights, its never taken mew more than 3 min. The blacks are out in huge numbers.
yep, crown heights was a madhouse, and it’s usually empty. I feel totally outnumbered, like there’s no point in even going to vote if it’s not for obama.
just wait till the WHITES finish work and go vote good luck president mccain
i’m a yiddishe momma not into politics, so whats the point of me voting, i have no idea who to vote for
Obama
Electoral Votes 194
Popular Vote 50%
14,985,538
McCAIN
Electoral Votes 124
Popular Vote 49%
14,732,373
i live in flatbush and B”H people really went out to vote……It was wonderful to see famalies coming together,,,and yes we had to wait a bit but good…….. and i do not beleive for a minute that people in williamsberg did not go out to vote…. i hear yeshivas took the boys as did kollels so please lets stop is there not enough to think about enough going on in klal yisrael
To No.1
Knee-jerk hatred?
The Dems are the ones who have exhibited that throughout the country in spades.
Major cities prepared for riots just in case Obama lost.
However, no one is afraid of any rioting by Republicans if Obama wins.
Explain that.
What makes me sick is how people complain about everything but when it comes to voting on ISSUES and NOT race nobody cares and nobody goes out to vote.
if you think Obama will do anything for us you have got be out of your mind!
Politicans look at numbers and when they see the jewish community not only did not vote for him but did not vote at all it will come back to haunt us. We don’t care then they do not care.
I assume the hasidim did not go out and vote because there are no mechitzas at the polling sites.
YUP !! i live in CH and go to a high school that neighbors a public school. when i arrived at school at 7:55 this morning, there were lines around the block!! saddest part was that of al the people i saw on that line, only 1 was white! !!
Reading the comments here, it doesn’t surprise me that we are so despised by so many.
hello guys, i was off from work today, i was roaming around boro parks several voting places, i saw many many coming out to vote, young women shlepping baby carriages into the voting places, many elderly with wheelchairs and walkers, i do say, boro park and williamsburg had a large turnout, i was around these places all day .
My wife and me did go out to vote, and so did our neighbors, I saw the kol haolam kilo photographer taking photos, I guess we will see photos of who does care for klal and did make the effort to vote
My wife left our home in Riverdale at 6:15am to vote and didn’t return from the polling place (4 blocks away) for an hour because of the long lines. I voted at 9:15am and the wait was only ten minutes. The bake sale folks at the elementary school where the voting occurred had kosher pastries for the first time!
I was in Manhattan around minchah-maariv time and davened at Park East, which happens to be a voting place. There was no wait to vote (but it did take a few extra minutes to get a minyan).
Then after meeting my wife for dinner, we went to Harlem for the Obama victory rally. Very positive. Very moving. Not a single bad word about anyone from anyone. I now understand why Obama won. Americans want a positive direction, a positive message. I wish our new President the best.