By Jacob Carpenter, Naples Daily News

BOCA RATON – The joke goes that several years ago, at the first Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Florida, you could fit everyone there in a phone booth.

On a recent Sunday evening in a Boca Raton Embassy Suites ballroom, that old quip seemed quaint. There, about 500 people — nearly all Jewish — rallied as part of a three-state, $6-million campaign by the coalition. They jeered President Barack Obama, cheered for Israel and gathered in numbers never before seen in South Florida.

“Once upon a time, people would say ‘Republican Jewish’ and ‘black conservative’ were oxymorons and we didn’t exist,” said U.S. Rep. Allen West, the area’s congressman and a black GOP rock star. “Well I’m here to tell you that we exist and we’re not going away.”

Southern Palm Beach County’s bucolic, densely populated and highly developed cities like Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach will be ground zero for the political battle over Jewish voters, one that’s emotionally charged for voters and vital for both presidential candidates. Obama and Romney already have made the pilgrimage to Palm Beach County several times, visiting high-profile donors and stopping at the massive, compound-like retirement communities such as Kings Point and Century Village, home to thousands of Jewish voters.

Jews only make up an estimated 3.3 percent of Florida’s population, but they’re highly engaged in politics and vote in droves. They’ve traditionally been as reliable as any other liberal bloc, which Obama will need to continue in air-tight Florida, and surveys suggest that will be the case in 2012.

Judging by the ballroom, there’s no doubt Republican Jews in Palm Beach County, home to more than one-third of the state’s Jewish population, are more organized, more galvanized and better funded than elections past. Many of the county’s politically conservative Jews say it reflects a shift among their religious brethren — a small one perhaps, but enough to swing a tight election — while local Democrats counter that Jews will remain reliably liberal.

“If we’re going to have a tight election like everybody says we’re going to have, we could swing the state,” said Ira Sabin, a retired Republican Jewish voter from Boca Raton. “It’s important for the demographic to understand what’s going on and try to make an impact.”

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Steve Wessler’s political background mirrors many fellow Jewish Republicans.

His first vote for president went to John Kennedy in 1960. He’s liberal on most social issues, supporting some gun control and pro-abortion-rights. He’s surrounded by Democratic relatives and neighbors, saying a couple of his closest friends are “left of Lenin.”

As the years passed following his Kennedy vote, Wessler, 72, of Delray Beach, found himself backing Republican candidates, particularly fiscally conservative ones. He voted against Obama in 2008, then became more politically active in the run-up to 2012. Frustrated last year by Obama’s spending and health-care policies, Wessler helped create a Ronald Reagan Club at Valencia Palms, his tony residential community.

“He’s so bad,” Wessler said of Obama. “The first time, everybody was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m an optimist and always have been. He was my president. Then as the years ticked off, (I’m) not happy with him.”

For many, the opposition to Obama comes down to a few central complaints — he spends too much, he doesn’t have health care under control, he’s weak on Israel and national security, and he’s untrustworthy. Their disapproval for liberals often transcends religion; at last month’s coalition event, only U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Jewish chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, drew more groans than Obama.

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Each election cycle, Republicans say this will be the year that Jews swing more conservative — and it never happens. In 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain received 23 percent of the Jewish vote, according to research by the Solomon Project, a civic-minded American Jewish organization.

Recent polling suggests not much has changed. An early September survey by the AJC, a Jewish advocacy group, of 250 registered Jews in Florida found 69 percent support for Obama to 25 percent for Romney.

Republican leaders in Palm Beach County and neighboring Broward County, home to an estimated 170,000 Jews, said Romney needs to pull 35 to 40 percent of the Jewish vote in their regions. Local Democrats insist the number is pie-in-the-sky, that Jewish Republicans might be more vocal and better funded this year, but their polling totals will remain stagnant.

“I feel very strongly that the number will be in the mid-70s (for Obama),” said Democratic state Rep. Irv Slosberg, who represents much of southern Palm Beach County. “I think it’s just theater from the Republicans.”

Whether more on-the-fence Democrats switch to Romney could depend largely on fiscal issues. The economy and health care are far and away the most important to Jewish voters, according to the AJC survey, followed by taxes, national security and Israel.

“I don’t think abortion rights and gay rights are going to be worth a damn if this economy disintegrates, our security disintegrates and our position in the world disintegrates,” said Paul Chudnow, 70, of Fort Lauderdale.

While U.S.-Israel relations and Iran’s nuclear program aren’t at the top of the list of concerns for Jewish voters, according to the AJC, the issue remains politically charged. Last month, the Palm Beach County Democratic Party chairman resigned after saying Christians want Jews “slaughtered” so they can be converted. At a Democratic club meeting at Kings Point, a predominantly Jewish retirement community in Delray Beach, some gasped when a resident mentioned seeing Republican Jews waving pro-Romney signs early one morning.

Speakers at last month’s Republican Jewish Coalition reminded supporters that Obama hasn’t visited Israel during his presidency, and he once suggested last year that any Middle East peace deal should include a return to pre-1967 borders, which Israeli leaders immediately condemned.

“If you are going to be a one-issue voter, make it the safety and security of the state of Israel because the survival of the Jewish people is dependent upon it,” said Adam Hasner, a Republican former state legislator now running for Congress in Palm Beach County.

Democrats counter that seven of the last 11 presidents never visited Israel, and foreign aid to Israel has never been higher.

“It’s very quiet, but as far as security for Israel, he’s very staunch about that,” said Florence Karfeld, 79, of Delray Beach. “As far as money, he’s given Israel more money than any other president. And why he doesn’t say that more, I never understand.”

Publicly making the switch to a Republican candidate can be difficult for Democratic Jews. Max Levine, a 33-year-old Jewish voter and financial adviser, said for some, “it’s like coming out of the closet.”

“There’s a part of the American Jewry that feels that voting Democratic is part of their Jewish identity,” Levine said.

In November, we’ll know whether more Palm Beach County Jews have swung to Romney, or whether they’re just more visible this election cycle. There’s a general consensus that Obama won’t increase his 74 percent share of the Jewish vote from 2008. Whether he loses a couple percentage points, or closer to 10 percent, could alter the outcome in Florida.

“I think we’re doing OK,” said Rabbi Steven Westman, a co-chair of Florida Rabbis for Obama. “I’m hoping the Jewish vote will be solid, though maybe it won’t be as solid as last time around.”

Tags | Barack Obama, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jewish vote, Mitt Romney