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Pacific News Service, September 1, 2004
Who gets the U.S. Muslim vote isn't a done deal
By Sandip Roy
Neither George W. Bush nor John F. Kerry will show up at the biggest Islamic convention in North America this weekend, but their proxies will be at the Chicago gathering to woo the Islamic Society of North America.
Vying for the support of tens of thousands of fellow Muslims is Muhammad Ali Hasan, who has just launched MuslimsForBush.com. He must contend with Shahed Amanullah, who helped start MuslimsForKerry,com. The candidate who is supposed to be there in flesh though is the only Arab-American in the fray - Ralph Nader.
That worries Amanullah. According to a recent poll by New California Media and Amnesty International, Nader is polling as high as Bush among Arab, Pakistani and Iranian Americans. "It's time to get beyond the protest vote," says Amanullah. "The alternative to voting for Bush could be staying at home or voting for Nader, both of which help Bush."
Kerry does lead Bush 3 to 1 in the same poll, but Hasan of MuslimsForBush thinks that American Muslims just don't have the facts. "After 9/11 there was only one candidate who made it a point to go out on the air waves and say terrorism and Islam are very different things. President Bush spoke out against internment camps," says Hasan who met the President through his father, a major player in the HMO industry and a big donor.
"President Bush said the right things," concedes Samina Faheem, executive director of American Muslim Voice. "But a person's actions speak louder than words." Jamal Dajani, director of LinkTV's Mosaic program, a roundup of news from Arab television, agrees. "Arab Americans definitely feel betrayed by Bush due to the Patriot Act, the war on Iraq and his biased policies towards Israel, although the conservative ones identify with the Republicans on issues such as abortion, marriage and the so-called moral values," says Dajani.
In 2000, groups like the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) strongly endorsed candidate Bush. The Council of American Islamic Relations said Muslim support for Gore dropped from 20 percent to 8 percent after that endorsement. AMPCC claimed the Muslim vote in Florida helped Bush win.
Faheem says in 2000, Bush, unlike Al Gore, met with the Muslim leadership and was very accessible. In his second debate with Gore he said, "Arab Americans are racially profiled in what's called secret evidence. People are stopped and we've got to do something about it."
"Bush was a blank slate. Gore and Lieberman were steeped in years of support for Israel. Since 2000 Mulims have had a crash course in politics the hard way," says Amanullah.
This time he believes domestic issues like civil liberties will outweigh international issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict when Muslims go to the polling booth. But Hasan contends that Bush has delivered for Arab Americans. Bush, he says, complied when they asked that Rick Lazio, whom they accused of being anti-Muslim, be kept off the Cabinet. He also named as Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, an Arab American. "Bush has been bending over backwards for these guys and they are not giving him any sugar," complains Hasan. "They need to wise up."
But other Arabs point out that high-profile Arab Americans like John Abizaid and Abraham are all Christians. "The general attitude is (Abraham) is essentially a token pick who has little real influence on policy," says Nidal Ibrahim, publisher of Arab American Business Magazine.
Ibrahim says Kerry hasn't capitalized on the strong opposition to Bush. "He has done little to sway the Arab American vote, banking instead on a strategy of what choice do they really have," says Ibrahim. In closely contested states like Florida, Michigan and Ohio that neglect could backfire.
Hasan, who has visited Bush in the White House and Crawford Ranch with his parents, remembers when his mother brought up the unjustified raid on the home of a Muslim family in Virginia. Bush took the Treasury department, which had ordered the raids, to task. He also condemned Rev. Franklin Graham for his anti-Islam comments.
Although Hasan opposes the Patriot Act and was himself once pulled off an airplane at LAX, he thinks Bush's "management of the Patriot Act has been very responsible." Kerry, he alleges, hasn't gone to one mosque to say Islam and terrorism are very different. "And he wants to punish our biggest ally Pakistan, which has captured the most Al-Qaeda terrorists."
"This is not about which presidential candidate took more Muslims to dinner" counters Amanullah, but he admits Kerry can't take the Muslim vote for granted. "Kerry can't be Bush Light on issues like Iraq. But it's not just Kerry. It's the Democratic party whose values are more in line with Muslims," says Amanullah.
Amanullah is convinced that by placing field organizers in swing states he can convince fellow Muslims that the Democratic Party really cares about them. Hasan, meanwhile, says MuslimsForBush.com is offering $7,000 for the best 30-second commercial to re-elect Bush.
Fahim looks at both and says, "We are totally trapped. I'm not thrilled about Kerry, but I want Bush out."
Sandip Roy is a PNS editor and host of "UpFront" radio show on KALW 91.7 FM.
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