Muslim
Bloc Vote Percentage Highest in the Nation
By Tahir Ali
Massachusetts
Some of the consequences of
the second Muslim bloc vote - organized and mobilized
by the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights
and Elections (AMT), an umbrella of ten largest
Muslim organizations - are already in evidence.
In terms of internal cohesion – a product
of consensus and discipline - the Muslim bloc
vote was the most effective bloc vote in 2004.
This obviously does not mean that Muslims voters
were the most numerous; it means that the percentage
of Muslim who voted for Sen. Kerry was highest
in comparison with all other groups casting bloc
votes. Here are the hard facts.
The following figures indicate the percentage
of vote by a particular community to its designated
candidate. For example the designated candidate
for Muslim bloc vote was Sen. Kerry, the designated
candidate for the Evangelical and Catholic bloc
vote was President Bush.
Muslim bloc vote 93%
Black bloc vote 89%
Evangelical bloc vote 78%
Jewish bloc vote 78%
Veterans bloc vote 57%
Hispanic bloc vote 55%
Catholic bloc vote 52%
Note: The above data for all groups except Muslims
is taken from the National Election Pool created
by six news organizations to provide exit poll
surveys for the 2004 presidential election. The
data for Muslim vote was collected by the Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American
Muslim Alliance (AMA).
While the American Muslim community suffers from
many inadequacies, it deserves full credit for
its capacity for building internal consensus,
demonstrating unity of purpose and exercising
discipline of coordinated action.
Full credit must be given to the AMT for its leadership
in organizing and mobilizing the Muslim vote and
connecting it with the demand for restoration
of civil liberties and human rights. But full
credit must also be given to the Muslim media,
in particular to: Pakistan Link, Muslims, Mirror,
Urdu Times, Pakistan Post and Muslim Journal for
informing and educating the Muslim community.
One must also acknowledge the services of Muslim
activists working with the Kerry Campaign as well
as those active in the Democratic Party at the
state and city levels.
Similar appreciation must also be expressed for
Muslims, who are member of the Republican, Green
or Libertarian Parties or supporters of Ralph
Nader and Peter Camejo, and who willingly gave
up their personal affiliations and preferences
to make the Muslim bloc vote the number one in
the nation.
One might ask but what is the significance of
this bloc vote? What is it going to ‘buy’
us in the political market? Did or will the Muslim
vote even count and if so for what?
The efficacy of a bloc vote is judged by five
factors: 1) policies, 2) appointments, 3) resource
allocation, 4) value generalization, and 5) future
possibilities.
The bloc vote has enabled Muslims to team up with
Democrats and put pressure on the Bush Administration
during the nomination hearing for various new
cabinet members.
In an editorial suitably titled “Recircling
the Democratic Wagons’, The New York Times
has perceptively advised the Democratic Party
to “exercise some form of political relevance
in the second Bush administration, by using its
minority power selectively to filibuster objectionable
legislation and unacceptable presidential nominees…”
On the question of objectionable presidential
nominees our interests converge with the Democratic
Party and other civil libertarian forces. Our
‘highest-intensity’ bloc vote gives
us the credentials and credibility to team up
with the Democratic leadership in the house and
the senate and to work for policy change.
Since most Muslims are in sympathy with family
values as well as values of social justice and
human freedom, we are in an exceptional position
to have a meaningful say in both debates. We can
actually play a role beyond our numbers in influencing
the value generalization by the state and the
civil society. We can do so by supporting separation
of “church” and state and opposing
separation of “church” and society.
Those who been watching national news know that
the lineup for 2008 presidential election has
already started. Comparative data on ‘who
did what and at which level of achievement’
will not be lost on the presidential, gubernatorial
or senatorial hopefuls and their demographers
and strategists.
The Muslim bloc vote in 2000 had induced two Democratic
hopefuls, Dennis Kucinich and Carol Mosley Bruan
to show up uninvited at ISNA convention in 2003.
A politician does not knock at your door to ask
who you voted last time; he or she wants to know
will you vote for ME this time.
Politicians respect those communities that vote
in high numbers. The 2004 bloc vote is already
beginning to have an impact in cities and states
getting ready for off-year local elections in
2005. Candidates have started local and national
Muslim organizations.
President Kennedy had once said, “People
see things as they are and ask why; I see things
as they could be and ask why not”. That
is an important piece of advice to remember.
The job of the analyst is to see things as they
are; the job of the strategist to see things as
they could be: The second Muslim bloc vote, with
the highest percentage of internal mobilization,
is a new reference point that will serve us for
years to come.
When I asked Dr. Agha Saeed, the chief architect
of both the first (2000) and second (2004) Muslim
bloc votes to comment on the above findings he
responded by saying, “We have not only outperformed
all other groups in terms of the level of internal
mobilization, we have also improved over the 2000
Muslim bloc vote in which 72% of the Muslims had
voted for the designated candidate”.
Achievements are like seeds. They take a while
to grow into plants and trees, but once they do
the community is richly rewarded.
A tree is known by its fruit; an action by its
consequences.
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