Voting is Power
Islam mandates every Muslim to be unequivocally committed to social justice. Civic engagement may be the most powerful way to fulfill that mandate in a democracy. Our collective involvement with the electoral process allows us as a community to express our views, and influence the laws and policies which govern America.
On the other hand, our lack of enthusiasm to participate in the political process makes us vulnerable to laws and politicians that may subvert our rights.
In recent years, many dangerous laws were passed in the name of national security. The Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, new repressive immigration laws and profiling measures are considered, and intrusive Presidential Executive Orders are released regularly. Whether these laws and policies increase our national security is highly questionable. But these have been widely used to profile and persecute Muslims in America.
Many politicians, like Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Pete King (R-NY), and highly placed government officials like General Boykin, have made Muslim-bashing part of their everyday rhetoric, with no repercussion. In our domestic and foreign policies, we have made it acceptable to attack Muslims.
Only with our vigorous commitment to the electoral process, we can begin to change this unfavorable climate. This website is dedicated to that end – to inform and empower the Muslim Americans on the politics, legal issues, candidates and elections at Federal and State levels, and thereby to become a catalyst for positive change.
Please use this website extensively and inform others about it. We will continue to enrich it with more and more information useful to the Muslim American and other voters.
If you have comments and questions about the issues discussed here, or issues we may have overlooked, please let us know. This is your home on the internet – for all issues pertaining to voting and civic empowerment – because Voting is Power! |
After a phenomenal beginning during Election 2006, we are working toward the next big goal – Election 2008! Why is 2008 so important?
...Because the approximately 2.2+ million Muslim voters can make a huge impact in many elections in 2008!
Also because, in 2008, we’ll elect:
The President and the Vice President
All 440 Representatives in Congress
33 Senators in Congress
11 State Governors
2008 is a significant Election Year:
The following Battleground States have large and affluent Muslim communities which can make considerable impact in the Election 2008.
Colorado:
The strongly conservative Colorado has become more centrist over the past decade. Recent Democrat victories include Ken Salazar to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Bill Ritter as Governor in 2006, and a U.S. House seat pick-up the same year. Large Hispanic population with strong populist themes makes this a battleground state. Democrats selected Denver as the site for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Delegates in 2004:
9 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 1,101,255 = 51.69% Kerry = 1,001,732 = 47.02%
Florida:
In 2000, Bush won by the now-infamous 500+ in this state – with much controversy – and the 2004 election was more of the same. Florida's electorate is balanced by heavily Democratic large cities like Miami and sparser, more Republican areas (the Florida Panhandle in this case). Republicans have been winning handily in statewide elections lately; however, the large Hispanic vote near Tampa and Orlando (particularly Puerto Ricans who tend to be the Democrats and have a significant presence in the Orlando area) provide Democrats an edge, but the Cuban-American vote is crucial near Miami; their votes gave an edge to George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000. Florida reelected a Democrat Senator, Bill Nelson, in 2006.
Delegates in 2004:
27 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 3,964,522 = 52.10% Kerry = 3,583,544 = 47.09%
Iowa:
Al Gore won Iowa in 2000 narrowly, and George W. Bush did the same four years later. It is traditionally a swing state.
Delegates in 2004:
7 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 751,957 = 49.90% Kerry = 741,898 = 49.23%
Michigan:
Michigan generally leans Democratic, where labor unions play a pivotal role. The state has been hit hard by economic downturns – with unemployment running at one of the highest levels in the country. Republican strength tends to be primarily in the western portion of the lower peninsula, in the Grand Rapids and surrounding area, which is also one of the fastest growing regions in the Midwest. The Democrats are strong in the Southeastern region of the state around the Metro Detroit area, and also around the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw areas.
Delegates in 2004:
27 – went Democratic in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Kerry = 2,479,183 = 51.23% Bush = 2,313,746 = 47.81%
Minnesota:
Minnesota used to be Democratic stronghold and it was the only state in the country that did not vote for Ronald Reagan in 1984. The strong populist and labor unions traditions made it difficult for Republicans until recently; the recent competitiveness is due to the expanding suburbs of the Twin Cities. Republicans picked Saint Paul as the site for the 2008 Republican National Convention in September 2008.
Delegates in 2004:
10 – went Democratic in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Kerry = 1,445,014 = 51.09% Bush = 1,346,695 = 47.61%
Missouri:
Missouri is in many ways a microcosm of the entire country. Missouri has voted for the winner of every Presidential election since 1904 except in the year 1956, and voters there have proven themselves to be an effective gauge of the national mood. The urban areas of St Louis and Kansas City are strongly Democratic while rural and suburban areas tend to be Republicans.
Delegates in 2004:
11 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 1,455,713 = 53.30% Kerry = 1,259,171 = 46.10%
Nevada:
Nevada's large Mormon population favors the GOP, but the presence of strong labor unions and Hispanic voters in Las Vegas and Reno sway those districts towards the Democrats. Populism plays well in Nevada.
Delegates in 2004:
5 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 418,690 = 50.47% Kerry = 397,190 = 47.88%
Ohio:
Ohio’s 20 electoral votes were critical to President Bush's reelection in 2004. In 2006, however, Ohio voters elected Democrats Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown for Governor and U.S. Senator. The industrial urban areas of Cleveland, Dayton, Akron, and Youngstown tend to lean to the Democrats while the rural areas and the suburbs and exurbs (in particular around the ever growing Greater Cincinnati and Columbus areas) lean to the Republicans.
Delegates in 2004:
20 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 2,858,727 = 50.82% Kerry = 2,739,952 = 48.70%
Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania is famously described by Democratic strategist James Carville as "you’ve got Philadelphia at one end of the state, Pittsburgh at the other end, and Alabama in the middle.” Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés stated on March 17, 2007, that "The commonwealth’s large number of electoral college votes and diverse population make Pennsylvania a key battleground state." Pennsylvania has leaned Democratic since 1992, giving its electoral votes to Bill Clinton (1992 and 1996), Al Gore (2000) and John Kerry (2004). President George W. Bush visited the state more than 40 times during his 2004 campaign.
Delegates in 2004:
21 – went Democrat in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Kerry = 2,938,095 = 50.92% Bush = 2,793,847 = 48.42%
Virginia:
No Democratic presidential candidate has won Virginia since Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory in 1964, and it was the only Southern state that went Republican in 1976. Virginia is no longer as reliably Republican as it once was, as evidenced by two successive Democratic gubernatorial victories in 2001 and 2005 and Jim Webb's narrow victory in the 2006 Senate race against incumbent Republican George Allen. Also, Northern Virginia, the rapidly growing region of the state tends to lean Democratic.
September 13, 2007, former Virginia governor and Democrat Mark Warner announced he will run for the Senate in 2008 for the seat of retiring Senator John Warner.
Delegates in 2004:
13 – went Republican in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Bush = 1,716,959 = 50.82% Kerry = 1,454,742 = 45.48%
Wisconsin:
Wisconsin has narrowly gone to Democratic candidates since 1988, which is somewhat ironic considering that the Republican Party was founded there. The Republicans lost their advantage in Wisconsin in the late 19th century when perceived nativist sentiments - particularly the Bennett Law - alienated the state's large German-American population. Southern Wisconsin has a strong progressive tradition, and elected the country's only current openly lesbian U.S. Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin.
Delegates in 2004:
10 – went Democrat in 2004
Popular Vote in 2004:
Kerry = 1,489,504 = 49.70% Bush = 1,478,120 = 49.32%
More to follow about these states!
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