Two important points:
1) New political coalitions are emerging, and you must not be afraid to
think outside of the box of the old ones (Dean has done this...)
2) It is going to be a very ugly campaign.
Reuters: American Muslims endorsed and strongly backed Bush in 2000, a decision many criticized after Sept. 11, 2001, when they say anti-Islamic sentiment began to rise. "Today I go to mosques and many people tell me they'll vote for ABB -- anybody but Bush," said Hossam Ayloush, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in southern California. A straw poll among the 800 MPAC delegates showed more than 67 percent planned to vote for Dean, compared to just 2 percent for Bush. Upon hearing the poll results, one delegate said, "How did Bush manage to get 2 percent?"
Save the U.S.Constitution, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2003%20News%20archives/December/24%20n/Democrats%20Court%20Vote%20of%20Disgruntled%20U.S.%20Muslim%20Americans.htm
Democrats Court Vote of Disgruntled U.S. Muslim Americans
Tue December 23, 2003 02:19 PM ET
By Caroline Drees WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Three years after Muslim Americans overwhelmingly
voted for George W. Bush, democratic presidential
candidates are courting these disenchanted voters in
hopes of winning millions of backers in key states.
"I want to earn the support of Muslims and Muslim
leaders across the United States," Sen. John Kerry, a
Democrat from Massachusetts, told a major Muslim
conference outside Los Angeles last weekend.
"I very much hope for your support," Democratic
front-runner and former Vermont governor, Howard Dean,
told the same meeting, the Muslim Public Affairs
Council annual convention.
Dean, Kerry and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich all called
in from the campaign trail, and the audience was
receptive.
Angered by post-Sept. 11 legislation like the USA
Patriot Act which Muslims feel discriminates against
them, upset about wars against two Muslim countries,
and frustrated by a perceived pro-Israeli bias in
Middle East peacemaking, many U.S. Muslims are
shifting their political allegiance.
This marks a sharp turn from previously widespread
sentiment that the Republicans under Bush would
support Palestinian aspirations in the Middle East.
Bush had in the past aggressively courted the Muslim
vote, and the traditional pro-business stance of
Republicans had also appealed to many middle class
Muslim voters.
With Bush's approval ratings at 59 percent -- the
highest since August -- disgruntled Muslims and
leading democratic candidates hope this nontraditional
voting bloc could swing the election in major states
which have large Muslim populations such as
California, New York, Florida and Michigan.
"I think that this November we will see American
Muslims coming to the polls in unsurpassed numbers,"
said MPAC executive director Salam al-Marayati.
"This is due to actions our elected leaders took in
response to 9/11 as well as the dramatic increase in
voter registration drives and the large number of
American Muslim youth who have become eligible to vote
since the last presidential election," he said.
U.S. census statistics do not detail religious
affiliation, and unofficial estimates vary widely.
Islamic groups say there are around 6 million American
Muslims.
American Muslims endorsed and strongly backed Bush in
2000, a decision many criticized after Sept. 11, 2001,
when they say anti-Islamic sentiment began to rise.
"Today I go to mosques and many people tell me they'll
vote for ABB -- anybody but Bush," said Hossam
Ayloush, head of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in southern California. A straw poll among
the 800 MPAC delegates showed more than 67 percent
planned to vote for Dean, compared to just 2 percent
for Bush. Upon hearing the poll results, one delegate
said, "How did Bush manage to get 2 percent?"
Aslam Abdullah, an activist and head of the Muslim
Electorates' Council of America, said his surveys in
seven key states showed two-thirds of 1.7 million
Muslim voters backed Bush in 2000.
He said the size of the Muslim electorate had now
jumped to almost 3 million, thanks to massive voter
registration drives, a large number of new citizens
and an increase in Muslim-Americans who have reached
the voting age of 18.
Yahya Basha, a staunch Republican and a prominent
Muslim leader in Michigan, said Bush could still win
the Islamic vote, but had to do more to court it.
"It is going to be a challenge," he said. "I'd hate to
see them giving up on that community ... I think there
is potential and they (the Bush campaign) should do a
bit more to reach out."