because the majority of Jews already opposed the war in 2003 and 2004 when most Americans did not. Owing to high Democratic identification in the 2008 United States presidential election, 78% of Jews voted for Democrat Barack Obama, versus 21% for Republican John McCain, despite Republican attempts to connect Obama to Muslim and pro-Palestinian causes. It has been suggested that running mate Sarah Palin's outspoken conservative views on social issues may have nudged Jews away from the McCain-Palin ticket. Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, is Jewish, as is his former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. American Jews are largely supportive of gay rights, though a split exists within the group by observance. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews are far more supportive on issues like gay marriage than Orthodox Jews are. A 2007 survey of Conservative Jewish leaders and activists showed that an overwhelming majority now supports gay rabbinical ordination and same-sex marriage. Accordingly, 78% percent of Jewish voters rejected Proposition 8, the bill which banned gay marriage in California. No other ethnic or religious group voted as strongly against it. Jews in America also overwhelmingly oppose current United States marijuana policy. 86% of Jewish Americans opposed arresting non-violent marijuana smokers, compared to 61% for the population at large and 68% of all Democrats. Additionally, 85% of Jews in the United States opposed using federal law enforcement to close patient cooperatives for medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana is legal, compared to 67% of the population at large and 73% of Democrats. In the 2012 presidential election, support for Democrats fell by 9 percentage, while support for Republicans increased by the same percentage. The American Jewish vote for President Barack Obama fell from 78 percent to 69 percent in 2012. Obama's opponent in 2008, John McCain, received the support of 21 percent of Jewish, whereas Mitt Romney increased that share to 30 percent in 2012. Israelis favored Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the 2012 United States presidential election by a 57 percent to 22 percent margin. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic primary on February 9, 2016, by 22.4% of the vote (60.4% to Hillary Clinton's 38.0%). "Sanders, a self-identified democratic socialist, has repeatedly described himself as a secular Jew. ... " (Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, was the first winner of Jewish heritage, but was a Christian). In the 2018 midterms, Jews were