NEWS STORY: Kerry Can’t Take Muslim Vote for Granted

c. 2004 Religion News Service BOSTON _ Muslim voters appear less inclined to support President Bush in November than they did in 2000, but that doesn’t mean they automatically back Democrat John Kerry. Several of the roughly 40 Muslim delegates attending this week’s Democratic National Convention said they are waiting for the Kerry campaign to […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

BOSTON _ Muslim voters appear less inclined to support President Bush in November than they did in 2000, but that doesn’t mean they automatically back Democrat John Kerry.

Several of the roughly 40 Muslim delegates attending this week’s Democratic National Convention said they are waiting for the Kerry campaign to show its concern for Muslim voters and acknowledge they can make a difference at the polls, especially in such key states as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.


“My sense is that 75 percent of the Muslim leadership is behind Kerry; however, the public is not,” said Asad Zaman, a school principal and convention delegate from Inver Grove, Minn., whose family is from Bangladesh. “They have to do their homework. He needs to visit mosques the way he visits synagogues.”

Spokesmen for the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee say they are ramping up their efforts to reach Muslims during and after the convention.

“We will continue building bridges to the Muslim community around the country,” said Mona Mohib, a Muslim of Indian descent who serves as vice chair of the DNC’s Asian-Pacific Island caucus.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recently hosted a gathering of national Muslim groups, calling it “only the first in an ongoing dialogue between congressional Democrats and Muslim Americans.”

Estimates vary on how many Muslims are registered to vote. Agha Saeed, founder and national chairman of the American Muslim Alliance, puts the figure at more than 4 million, a total that includes African-American Muslims, Muslims with Arab roots and Muslims with South Asian roots.

Islamic organizations rallied strongly behind Bush in 2000, buoyed by his stance against detaining Muslims without informing them of evidence against them. But many have become incensed by the USA Patriot Act, the controversial anti-terrorism law, and the administration’s treatment of Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Bush has refused to concede the Muslim vote, calling Islam “a religion of peace” and stressing that removing Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein from power has benefited Muslims there.


But American Muslims “are so disenfranchised,” said Hanif Butt, a Muslim of Kenyan descent and a Democratic state committee member from Somerville, Mass. “They don’t see Kerry coming out for the Muslim people. He needs to know that we Americans are fellow Americans.”

The ambivalence among Muslims was evident at a forum Sunday in Westboro, Mass., near Boston. About 20 Muslims applauded politely as local Democrats and Republicans outlined their party’s positions, but they clapped repeatedly and shouted their approval when David Cobb, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, denounced Democrats and Republicans who voted for the Patriot Act and war in Iraq.

“When you come to the two establishment parties asking for real, meaningful change, they always say, ‘Go away!”’ Cobb said.

Afterward, 22-year-old Sarah Shamsuddin of Westboro, a recent college graduate and a Muslim of Pakistani descent, said she favored Cobb’s message even though she conceded he has no chance of winning.

“Obviously, there’s the issue of electability,” she said. “For our community, it’s important to address that. I’m going to go with the Democratic candidate even though he’s not better than Bush. He may surprise me.”

Her friend, 27-year-old Amane Abdeljaber of Worcester, a Palestinian-American, nodded. `I don’t agree with all of Kerry’s views,” she said. “But I need to make sure Bush gets out of office.”


The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington Islamic civil rights group, asked subscribers to its e-mail list last month about their political preferences. Among the more than 1,100 responses, 54 percent backed Kerry, 26 percent Ralph Nader, 2 percent Bush, 2 percent “other”; 14 percent were undecided and 1 percent didn’t answer that question.

To increase awareness among Muslim voters, Saeed said, a coalition of Muslim groups plans to hold 50 town hall meetings in large cities around the country. The events will focus on civil and human rights, preventing war and U.S. relations with the Muslim world.

“We want to play the role of defining the issues, and we would like members (in the meetings) to make the final choices,” Saeed said.

DEA DH/RB END MCCUTCHEON

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