Muslims drifting towards Kerry in run up to US Elections

Producer: Howie Lim
First broadcast: 7 September 04, Radio Singapore International

Muslim Americans appear to be leaning towards voting for Democratic contender John Kerry in the upcoming US Presidential elections.

Many American Muslims say they are in tune with the Republican Party's policies. But polls show a majority unwilling to support a Republican administration this time round.

They feel the Bush administration has trampled on their civil liberties in the name of the war against terror.

By that virtue, John Kerry has garnered their support purely because he is running against George W. Bush.

Howie Lim spoke to Associate Professor David Tucker from the Political Science Faculty of the University of Melbourne and first asked him if Muslim American votes would be significant in this year's US Presidential Elections.

DT: I've heard that the vote will be more significant in some of the more marginal places where the contest would depend very much on how many Arab-Americans live in these places but it does look to be the case that Muslim Americans are anti-Bush at the moment and some of them voted for Bush in Florida. That was a very close call and so he relied on their vote last time.

HL: There is a growing resentment among American Muslims and Arabs that they're being treated as second class citizens by the Bush administration which as you mentioned they voted him in 4 years ago. Is there justification for such resentment?

DT: Yes, I think there is because the scare relating to terrorism means there's been a lot of what's called profiling. One of the things that police and security officers do is that whenever they check or profile people, they look at the queue and they look at the names and people who've got names that are Arab-American are often singled out for special searches or questioning so that profiling causes resentment.

HL: Some America Muslims have expressed a sentiment backing Kerry only because he is running against Bush. What can Kerry do to win them over to his camp?

DT: Democrats are actually a party that's very orientated to helping minority communities. Most of the minorities in the United States have found the Democratic Party more sensitive to their concerns than the Republicans.

HL: Then vice versa, what could Bush do to win them back over to his camp?

DT: He could make more effort to signal that the war against terror is not a war against Muslims. He has tried to do that but he's not been effective but he could try a bit harder.

HL: The American Muslim Task Force on Elections has actually been toying with the idea of endorsing Ralph Nader in this election. What message should the Republicans and the Democrats receive from such an endorsement?

DT: The reason for endorsing Ralph Nader is because he's the only candidate that's actually anti-war. Both John Kerry and George Bush have said that they would keep troops in Iraq. Both of them endorsed the war and the invasion of Iraq. That would be a signal that they're unhappy with the direction of American foreign policy. Ralph Nader gives them a chance of signaling that.

HL: One important issue for American Muslims is the abolition of parts of the Patriot Act which they feel infringes on their civil liberties. Would the Bush administration cave to this demand just to garner the Muslim American vote and likewise would Kerry promise this on order to secure his election?

DT: I doubt very much whether either of them would do that. Both of them are trying to present themselves as strong leaders who are going to direct the country against terrorism. That would look like a sort of weak pandering for votes so I don't think they'd do that. They both have an image of being tough or would want to get an image of that kind