Muslims for Bush???

[Kilvert_s_Pagan]

I was a little surprised to read this article this morning:

@Today's Lexington Herald-Leader

MUSLIMS’ PRO-BUSH BOOTH DRAWS IRE

They stop abruptly when they see the 5-foot-tall photo of President Bush, with “muslimsforbush.com” above his head. Then come the outbursts. “Disgusting,” said one onlooker. “Take that down,” said another. At the largest annual convention of American Muslims in Rosemont, Ill., a pro-Bush booth has stirred anger among attendees who believe the president’s actions since Sept. 11, 2001, have hurt more innocent Muslims than terrorists. The display was funded by Muhammad Ali Hasan and his mother, Seeme, who recently created the group “Muslims for Bush.” Seeme Hasan said she and her husband Malik, a Colorado physician who earned his wealth in the health care industry, have donated more than $1 million to Bush and Republican causes since the 2000 campaign. “The reason we are doing this is that Muslims don’t have a lobbyist,” Seeme Hasan said. “We want to be there.”

Are there many other Muslims in Bush’s camp? Perhaps there were a lot of Iraqi exiles (in Dearborn, for instance) for Bush, but is even that support still there?

[Paul_in_Qatar]

Lemme see …

Islam is opposed to abortion. Bush is opposed to abortion.
Islam is opposed to gay marriage. Bush is opposed to gay marriage.
Islam is opposed to drug legalization. Bush is opposed to drug legalization.
Muslims have benefited greatly from free trade. Bush is pro-free trade.
Islam teaches that religion is an important part of good government. Bush is in favor of ‘faith-based’ charity getting government help.

Makes sense to me.

[AskNott]

When Mr. Bush was gearing up for his wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he made a point of saying that we would not be having a war against Islam. Gen. Boykin, one of the top US military intelligence guys, has gone out of his way to say just the opposite from the pulpit of several churches. I can understand why some muslims might take offense. :dubious:

[Happy_Lendervedder]

Living in Dearborn, I know most, if not all, Arab/Muslim groups there are not happy with how the Bush administration has treated them.

In the 2000 race, Bush met with several local Arab groups-- behind closed doors, with no media present-- and each time the groups would come out with Bush, grinning ear to ear, throwing their unconditional support to Bush.

But even before 9/11, and the subsequent increased security, many of those groups that came out of those closed-door meetings with candidate Bush supporting him, were starting to cry out: What about your promises Mr. President?!? So it would seem Bush was already ticking off the Arab/Muslim groups by renegging on some “promises” he had made while campaigning.

Granted, since those meetings were closed-door, no one actually knows what those promises were-- except the groups and the president.

I know none of these groups that endorsed him in 2000 are doing so this time around.
Happy

[JohnBckWLD]

@Paul in Saudi

Lemme see …
Islam is opposed to abortion. Bush is opposed to abortion.
Islam is opposed to gay marriage. Bush is opposed to gay marriage.
Islam is opposed to drug legalization. Bush is opposed to drug legalization.
Muslims have benefited greatly from free trade. Bush is pro-free trade.
Islam teaches that religion is an important part of good government. Bush is in favor of ‘faith-based’ charity getting government help.
Makes sense to me.

If that made sense, me thinks the (non-reform) Jewish vote would also be in his corner. If this link is to be believed: 2.3 million Muslims for Kerry / 1.3 million for Bush

The 3.5 million Arab-Americans constitute a voting bloc that perhaps more than any other has shifted its party loyalties since the 2000 election, when nearly half voted for Bush.
.
Polls conducted this summer showed Kerry leading Bush by a margin of more than 2 to 1.

[Paul_in_Qatar]

Nonetheless, it would seems Muslims would have a legitimate choice between the two. Some would go one way, some the other.

[Governor_Quinn]

Paul Finley (former Rep. Congressman from IL) has claimed on C-SPAN that 75% of the Muslim population in teh US voted for Bush in 2000.

[Paul_in_Qatar]

The Economist for this week finally got through the censors. It confirms that America’s Muslims voted overwhelmingly for Bush.

Now many are disillusioned, but Kerry is not courting them. He is afraid they might scare off Jewish voters.

Looks like they will stay home.