Muslims in the Swing States
By Dr Ghulam M. Haniff
St Cloud, Minnesota
According to several pundits (or political analysts) the fate of the next Presidential election will likely be decided by nine swing states. Among them they command something like 100 delegates. These are states in which the real battle for votes will be fought out.
Swing states are those which are neither Democratic nor Republican but alternate between the two from election to election. Sometimes they are known as tossup states as well.
Muslims who live in these states have a good chance of influencing the outcome of the forthcoming election. For that to happen they must be registered to vote and to show up at the polling station on the day of the election. By casting their ballots on that day they will play a determinative role in the election. They can have an impact on the election only if they turn out in large numbers.
Lest they are mistaken this does not mean that Muslims have to appear only in these states. They have to vote whichever state they live-in but those in the nine have to make an extra effort to make the election come out their way.
It is not known if Muslims are registered in these states in sufficient numbers to make a difference. If they are not registered they still have sufficient time to become registered and eligible to vote. In some states, such as in Minnesota, one can register on the day of the election, at the polling station, by one of the election judges.
In 2008 Barack Obama won all nine of the tossup states but since then Republicans have made significant inroads into them. In order for Obama to win these states he will have to work extra hard with substantial boost from the Muslim voters. It can be done and it depends a lot on the Muslims. The leadership of the Muslim community involved with politics will have to play a decisive role in providing the necessary information to the voters.
For his opening rallies on the last Saturday of July Obama appeared in two of these states, Virginia and Ohio. His campaign season began with well attended speeches and he seemed to have played his part in keeping these two crucial states in his column.
The other states in the play are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Most likely he will visit all of them with meaningful appeal inviting them to listen to him for the policies he is likely to adopt.
All of the states mentioned have large communities of Muslims though four of them, Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia, likely to be in the neighborhood of 70-90,000 individuals. Elections are won or lost by one or two votes, and everything depends on how big is the community turnout.
Much to the doings of President Bill Clinton the political perception of the American Muslims has significantly broadened. Bill was the first President to invite the Muslims to celebrate “iftar” in the White House during the month of Ramadan. Hillary prepared that event and became the first Democratic activist to meet with Muslim women in Los Angeles as well as Muslim women at the International Women’s Conference in Beijing, China. The encouragement these two prominent political personalities provided to the Muslims has played a significant role in developing political activism in the Muslim community.
When George Bush became the President of the country Muslims found themselves pushed back to the sidelines. The community had to spend considerable time in recovering the lost ground.
From that point of view Obama’s second round provides a good chance for the Muslims to make some inroads into the political process.
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