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December 18, 2003
The American Muslim Vote
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The 7-million strong American Muslim community made a history in 2000 presidential elections when they voted en bloc for George Bush. They are ready again to deliver a bloc vote in 2004 elections. The American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC), a coalition of four major American Muslim organizations, that endorsed George W. Bush for president in October 2000, has announced a plan to reach a consensus on a presidential candidate and mobilize the Muslim voters.
The AMPCC has made civil rights a top issue in any endorsement of a presidential candidate in the 2004 elections. It also called for launching an intensive drive to register one million Muslim voters. In many mosques and Islamic centers vote registration campaign is now underway as the community leaders are determined to deliver another bloc vote that is possible only in a presidential election when all voters can be motivated to vote for a particular presidential candidate.
Importance of American Muslim vote has been realized by the mainstream media. According to Chicago Tribune (Dec. 14, 2003) the increasing influence of religion in American life is widely expected to shake up the 2004 presidential contest, realigning some traditional voting blocs in ways that might surprise both major parties, political pollsters and experts say.
The paper, in its article - entitled “Key religious voting blocs shifting allegiances” - argued that some Jewish and Muslim voters appear to be abandoning their past party affiliations and fewer evangelical Christians may go to the polls, adding to the volatility of the race.
The Chicago Tribune pointed out that Muslims, many of whom supported the president overwhelmingly in 2000, now are working to defeat him. “Driven by outrage over what they see as a clampdown on their civil rights and by opposition to U.S. policy in the Middle East, Muslims across the country are holding registration drives, hoping to mobilize one million voters to try to oust Bush.”
The Washington Post, in a recent article entitled “Terrorism jars Jewish, Arab party loyalties,” said that in the last presidential election, Arabs supported the Republican candidate while Jews overwhelmingly backed the Democrat. “That was before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Bush's response. Since then, the political moorings of the two communities have come loose. Democratic and Republican leaders are trying to catch them as they drift. Though they are small in numbers, Arab and Jewish populations are concentrated in several swing states, such as Michigan and Florida.”
Sensing an opening, Democratic presidential contenders have reached out to Arab voters, speaking at an Arab American Institute conference this fall in Detroit, the paper pointed out.
The New York News Day reports that Arab-Americans are organizing politically in an unprecedented way. “Activists have formed, or are in the process of creating, umbrella groups in at least nine states. The state Arab-American Leadership Councils hope to channel Arab-American civic, religious and cultural groups into unified, influential political voices at the local and state levels.
The groups are modeled after the national Arab American Leadership Council, a Washington-based, bipartisan political action committee that contributes money to candidates for federal office. The idea to form several of the state councils, which won't be PACS, took shape at a conference sponsored by the Arab American Institute in Dearborn, Mich., in October. State Arab American Leadership Councils recently have sprouted up in Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. Arab-Americans in California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania plan to develop their own councils over the next few months. The Arab American Institute estimates that the U.S. Arab population is closer to 3.5 million people.
American Muslims have increased their participation in political and social activities since 9/11. According to a September 2003 poll by the Council of American-Islamic Relations, roughly half of American Muslims surveyed say they have increased their social (58 percent), political (45 percent), inter-faith (52 percent) and public relations activities (59 percent) since the 9/11 terror attacks. On the political party that best represents the interests of the American Muslim community, more respondents named the Democratic Party (27 percent) and Green party (25 percent) than the Republican Party (three percent). A large number (44 percent) said none of the parties represented their interests.
Regardless of how the American Muslim leadership decides to vote in the 2004 national elections, a growing community interest can be found at the state and local levels, as well. Several Muslim candidates are running or are planning to run for office at different levels across the country. One such case is that of M. J. Khan, who was elected in December 2003 to the Houston City Council with 53.2 percent votes.
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