Muslim vote split in US elections (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Sima Kotecha
Newsbeat US reporter

With America set to decide between Barack Obama and John McCain for their new president next Tuesday, Newsbeat visits a mosque in a New York suburb to find out how Muslims feel about the election.

At prayers at a mosque in Jamaica, Queens - a suburb of New York City, the women have their heads covered.

They are kneeling in prayer, the men sitting separately opposite them.

The scene provides an insight into how some of America's 4 million Muslims are feeling about the Presidential race. And the truth is, many are angry.
***
Traditionally, American Muslims have often supported the Republicans. However, this election is turning things around.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/the_p_word/newsid_7695000/7695727.stm

"Traditionally, American Muslims ..." WHUH WHUH WHAAAAT?? :wow:

[drmeow]

1. "Traditionally, American Muslims ..." WHUH WHUH WHAAAAT??

Religious conservatives: ideologically not that different from the Christian right - male dominant, anti-sex, anti substance use, etc.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. True dat. I would have thought 2004 would have shattered that trend already, though. nt

[drmeow]

5. Religious dogma is hard to shatter

Single issue (or a few issue) voters consistently vote against their own interests ... and Bush never accused Kerry of being a Muslim and then attacked him for it.

edited to say:

Seeing the entries below, I stand corrected. Perhaps Religious dogma is not the largest driving force.

[CJCRANE]

3. Is this the best picture

of Colin Powell they could find?



Sometimes I wonder about the BBC.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. 2000: " Muslims endorse Bush for president"

A national political action committee for Muslims endorsed George W. Bush for president Monday, predicting if Arab-Americans and Muslims vote in a bloc they can swing razor-thin margins in Michigan and Illinois his way.

The American Muslim Political Coordinating Council PAC said Bush has shown "elevated concern" about issues its community holds dear: stopping the government's use of secret evidence against Arab and Muslim immigrants, and its profiling of Arab-Americans at airports.
...
Bush raised those issues in the second presidential debate. Secret evidence is "not the American way," he said. "We've got to do something about that."
...
"The Clinton administration talked about it but did absolutely nothing," said Basha.

http://www.sptimes.com/News/102400/Worldandnation/Muslims_endorse_Bush_.shtml

Just a touch of irony, there.

The Muslim vote long fell fairly reliably into the Democratic column, but that changed in 2000. A combination of perceived slights by the Gore campaign and active wooing by Mr. Bush led to a break in the conventional wisdom. Major Muslim community groups actually went so far as to endorse Bush in 2000, in large part due to one big issue: racial profiling. On the campaign trail and in the debates, Bush used the issue to talk about his support of the Secret Evidence Repeal Act, a proposal to reverse parts of a Clinton-era law that made it easier for prosecutors to use secret evidence in terrorism cases.

Polls in 2000 showed Muslims favored Bush over Mr. Gore by a wide margin - some showed support in the 90 percent range - and some groups argued that some 60,000 Muslim votes put Bush over the top in Florida.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0817/p09s01-codc.html

So I'm not sure how 'traditional' it is; but they did largely vote for Bush in 2000.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Eep! Irony overload! nt

[varun]

7. Exactly

Arab Americans and muslims voted 3:1 for Bush in 2000 elections.

Hope they realized their mistake.

[darkism]

8. Muslims for McCain...makes about as much sense as

Blacks for Breckenridge.