By  Dr. Ghulam M. Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota

 

November 16 , 2012

Obama Wins Big!

 

Tuesday’s victory for Barack Hussein Obama, the Democratic incumbent, was a big win for the President. He gets to be in the White House for yet another four years.

Obama won 50 percent of the votes compared to 48 percent for Romney, the Republican challenger. The Democratic incumbent, Obama, won 60 million of the popular votes whereas Romney procured 57 million.

In the electoral vote picture Obama received 303 votes and Mitt Romney received 206.

The three measures all delivered Obama the victory margin.

It is said that many people around the world cried when they heard that Barack Obama had won another terms of office. Indeed, it is difficult to believe that a nation which was a major holder of slaves until 1865 from Africa made an African to be the Chief Execute Officer of the nation.

In the person of Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, Obama was hammered repeatedly hoping that some of charges made would stick and damage him politically. But none did.

When the vote count showed that Obama had won Mitt made him wait for more than an hour for the traditional concessionary telephone call. The excuse given was that Romney had written only a victory speech, and not a concessionary one. He was so very sure of winning that he wrote only one speech.

Obama’s victory speech was a short summation of the agenda he had followed since assuming the presidency. It was vintage Obama. Romney could learn a lot about politics from it. As usual, it was one of his better and more thoughtful pieces crafted in a masterly fashion.

Obama’s victory should help the Muslims quite a bit. He certainly will stand up as a bulwark against evils of racism. By gathering the minorities of America into a winning coalition he has shown the world what could be done by the wretched and the down-trodden. Racism could be challenged and defeated. Muslims, wherever they are should applaud Obama and ask for his cooperation in building their nations. He has already volunteered to do some nation-building in Afghanistan. Pakistan is not far-off, that is from the frontier.

Obama’s victory showed that racism or Islamophobia need not be a major impediment. It has, and can be defeated. It is a barrier that can be easily overcome. One only needs to look at South Africa or today the United States of America.

Winning the second term put the fear of God into the demented mind, crude and vulgar diatribes, of the racists’ individuals. More is yet to come as the coming years unfold one after another.

One of the diehard enemies of Islam who was defeated in this election was none other than Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a man who relentlessly the sullied the good name of Islam. He once described Islam as a “totalitarian theocratic political ideology.” He was said to be one of the most obnoxious man in the US Congress.

In Illinois, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) was defeated who at one time claimed that “radical Islam is more than a threat” and it is something to be feared. He also was involved in helping the Chief Minister of Gujrat, Narendra Modi, and was involved with the Indian community in Chicago. His supporters displayed a sign “If you love Narendra Modi send Joe Walsh to Congress.”

In Minnesota Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN), who testified against Islam before Rep. King’s (R-NY) House Hearing Committee was also defeated.

For American Muslims the Obama victory underscored that barrier to racism can be lifted as is seen in the current times.

Muslims had no reason to vote for Mitt Romney, he did not reach out to them or solicit their concerns. He did not show any compassion for the Muslims, on the contrary he derided them for not knuckling under the Israelis.

As laid out in my previous two columns published during the last two months, the campaign intensified attention to the seven or ten states at the very tail-end. These were Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Virginia. In the parlance of electoral politics these are the so-called swing or tossup states.

Fortunately, Obama won them all except North Carolina. Most of these states carry a large number of electoral votes and winning them helps the total electoral vote count.

Seven to three percent of the population in most of these states is made up of Muslims. If they had chipped-in they could have substantially helped the Obama’s vote count. According to the latest count six of the tossup states have Muslims in the range from 7 to 3 percent.

 

PREVIOUSLY

O My Lord! Advance Me in Knowledge

America Discovers Islam

A Revolution Long Overdue

The Rhetoric of War

Defeat and Dishonor

Pakistan at a Turning Point

American Islam at a Turning Point

WTC Tragedy: A Major Setback for Islam

ISNA Convention: A Lesson in Diversity

In Pursuit of Information Technology

From Dream to Mainstream

American Muslims Step-up to Become Visible

Bush and Cheney Disappoint

Bush and Muslims

Can Pakistan’s Economic Collapse be Averted?

Making Pakistan’s Economy Work

Pakistan's Political Parties: Cult Followings or Grassroots Groups

Which Democracy to Restore?

A Disturbing Scenario

Saddam's Days Are Numbered

Getting the Political Act Together

No Muslims - No Terrorism

Will Pakistan Make It?

Regime Change Needed in the Muslim World

On the path to Political Activism

Half a Century of Nationhood

Pakistanis Want New Faces and Good Governance

No Quick-Fix for Pakistan

Democracy is a Plaything of the Feudal Elite

Standing up for Muslim Rights

Creating Jobs to Serve Pakistan

Honor Killings in the US

Mr. Ten Percent Takes the Reign of Power

A New Dawn for America

The Power of Education

Absent from the World of Image-Making

Who Cries for Palestine?

Obama’s Message to the Muslim World

Lashing out against the West

No Hopeful Sign on the Horizon

Imagining Pakistan

Pakistan a Nation, Barely a State

Is Pakistan a Failed-State?

Dictators and Tyrants: Leaders of the Muslim World

The Musharraf Interview

When Innovation Is Forbidden

On the Path to Innovative Future

Media Is the Message

One Billion and Counting: No Quality, No Power

Where Are the Best and the Brightest?

Women’s Rights Is Human Rights

Terrorism: Is it a Curse on Pakistan?

Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Lithium Bonanza Next Door

Pakistan , Still a Failed State

The Problems Continue to Haunt

Amidst Disaster Zardari Visits His Chateau

Human Sufferings Intensify as Donations Decline

Islamophobia: Boundless Hatred

Making it to the Top

Elections 2010: Up at the Grassroots

Standing Alone, Voiceless, on the Global Stage

China Marches on while Pakistan Stands Still

Palestine Never a State: Consider the Occupier

Muslim Voice in the American Media

Revolution Finally Comes to the Arab World

Celebrating Independence Day

Palestine : Once again?

Is a Muslim Holocaust in the Making?

Nobel Prize to the Best

Equality and Women

Elections 2012

The View from the Bottom

Democracy Wins in Egypt

The Next Generation

Presidential Contest Centers on Seven States

Muslims and National Elections of 2012

 

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.