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Comment
American Muslims and 2004 presidential campaign
Recently American Muslim Perspective received two calls from foreign correspondents in New York who wanted to know about American Muslim community’s role in the current presidential election campaign. They particularly asked:
How the Muslim community is going to vote in November’s election?
How the perceived impact of Patriot Act on the Muslim community will affect this year’s election?
What is the role of American Muslim organizations in the current election campaign?
The role of American Muslim organizations in 2000 elections has been criticized by some Muslim fringe groups and individuals who are asking, who gave these leaders authority to take decisions on behalf of the community without consulting the community?
Dr. Nazir Khaja’s article, “American Muslims and Their Political Struggle,” gives some insight into the controversy: The American Muslim Community has a challenge and an opportunity in the forthcoming Presidential elections. Their organizations and their leadership have not evolved enough to face the challenge. Those Muslims who are independent minded and do not need to be “told” must step up to the plate. They must reach out to each other to form a free constituency like Howard Dean did, start forming a network to think out-of-the-box, strategize and come up with an effective plan--- only then will there be progress towards political empowerment.
Apparently to meet such criticism, an American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT) has been established by major American Muslim organizations. The AMT includes: American Muslim Alliance (AMA), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Muslim Student Association - National (MSA-N), and Project Islamic Hope (PIH). The AMT has set up a system to get the American Muslim voters to provide feedback about candidates.
Now let us analyze the American Muslim organization’s role in March 2 Super Tuesday’s primaries and caucuses in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii Caucuses, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota Caucuses, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. This will show their stance on the current election campaign.
The American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslim Voice (AMV), Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Muslim Public Affairs Council (CAIR) issued statements on this occasion urging the community to go out and vote.
The American Muslim Voice (AMV) urged the community not to forget to vote on Tuesday March 2, 2004 because this is your right. “This is one way you can ensure the protection of you civil liberties and human rights. As Muslims we can no longer afford to be on sidelines, we must become players. It is the responsibility of every Muslim eligible voter to register as voter and register others also.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), while urging the community to vote gave five reasons why Muslims should vote: 1. Supporting accommodation of Islamic religious requirements in the workplace and in schools; 2. Creating a safe and drug-free environment for families; 3. Challenging discrimination and stereotyping; 4. Encouraging foreign and domestic policies that are based on justice and 4. Deciding how your tax dollars are used.
On March 2nd, Mr. Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), issued an article (entitled a vote for democracy) urging the Muslim community to get out and vote. In the article, Mr. Al Marayati argued: “Voting must be viewed as an act of preserving our democracy. For without the vote, the party in power runs the country without the consent of the people. And without the vote, the alternative is government by coercion, i.e. a dictatorship.”
The AMA said its Action Plan for March 2 primary elections in ten states is focused on:1) Vote for those candidates that support civil rights for all. 2) Organize a get-out-to-vote team in your district / neighborhood. 3) Document Muslim Vote by State, District, Party and Candidate
These statements show that the Muslim organizations realize that to make the community mobilize to register and vote is the most effective way of becoming politically effective. That is the reason that three organizations did not issue any election advisory recommending candidates for presidential or other offices.
However, the AMA went a step further and issued a long election advisory that advised, among other things, to support the Green Party candidate, Peter Camejo for President and Libertarian Party presidential candidates, Gary Nolan Aaron Russo. There was no recommendation for the Democratic Presidential hopefuls or the Republican candidate, President George Bush. On another major election in California, the Senate election as the incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer’s term is completing, the AMA advised to vote for Republican Bill Jones.
For the Arab and Muslim community of America, the 2000 endorsement for Bush did not guarantee representation in the decision-making process, according Mr. Al Maryati. Any future endorsement must result in positive results for our community, both in words and in actions. Otherwise, the millions of dollars spent by our donors money is wasted. The Arab and Muslim vote will count this year. As in 2000, it might come down to a few thousand votes in battle ground states like Michigan, New Hamphire and Florida. The swing votes could come from the highly concentrated Arab and Muslim communities living in those states.
This year’s election campaign, for the Muslim Americans, is different than the election 2000. The civil liberties issue and administration’s biased policies will be determining factors. Question remains if the Muslims will deliver a bloc vote this year as they did in 2000 elections? So far the community lacks direction on major candidates. However, many in the American Muslim community believe that they have to chose between one of the two major political parties – Democratic or Republican – to become affective in the national political process and a vote to a third party will dilute their voice.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
March 14, 2004
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