Jews voted for Reagan in 1980 and against Carter because of Jimmy’s anti-Israel policies. Jews voted for Clinton over Bush Senior in 1996 because of Bubba’s Oslo “Peace” Accords (in addition to his economy fix). Jews voted for Dubya in 2004 because of his strong support of Israel, his smackdown of Iran’s and Iraq’s state-sponsored terrorism against Israel, and for his removal of Saddam from power — a major, existential threat to Israel.
So, why did Jews not vote for Dubya in 2000?
Your call.
Jews were not supportive of the Iraq war, in most polls at the time they registered the highest levels of opposition amongst religious and demographic groups, in the mid to upper 70% disapproval range. And Jews didn't vote for Dubya in 2004, he got 24%, a slight increase over his 19% in 2000. In 2000 you had on the one hand the VP of a President popular in the Jewish community, on the other the son of the man who took the GOP share of the Jewish vote from 35% in 1988 to 11% in 1992. Based largely on his anti-Israel policies, this pro-Saudi "fuck the [American] Jews, they don't vote for us anyway" SOS, and his choice of Pat Buchanan, perceived by many as antisemitic, as the moral voice of the Republican Party. All legitimate reasons, imo.