Al Khaleej stuns Al Hilal with 3-2 victory, ending 57-match unbeaten run    Turki Al-Sheikh crowned "Most Influential Personality in the Last Decade" at MENA Effie Awards 2024    Saudi Arabia arrests 19,696 illegals in a week    SFDA move to impose travel ban on workers of food outlets in the event of food poisoning    GACA: 1029 complaints recorded against airlines, with least complaints in Riyadh and Buraidah airports during October    CMA plans to allow former expatriates in Saudi and other Gulf states to invest in TASI    11 killed, 23 injured in Israeli airstrike on Beirut    Trump picks billionaire Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary    WHO: Mpox remains an international public health emergency    2 Pakistanis arrested for promoting methamphetamine    Move to ban on establishing zoos in residential neighborhoods    Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Saudi Arabia and Japan to collaborate on training Saudi students in Manga comics Saudi Minister of Culture discusses cultural collaboration during Tokyo visit    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Obama and Muslim voters a ‘double whammy?'
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 26 - 07 - 2008

Barack Obama should be able to count on heavy support from U.S. Muslims in the November election, if polls are correct, but he risks offending some members of that faith by having to explain he is not one himself.
The number of votes at stake is small since Muslims account for only a fraction of the U.S. population and there are no reliable figures on how many are registered to vote.
But with a recent history of close presidential elections, no vote can be discounted when Democrat Obama, who would be the first black president, faces off against Republican John McCain.
A survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Politics found that 63 percent of U.S. Muslims either considered themselves to be Democrats or leaned in that direction, compared with 11 percent who said they were Republican or identified with that party.
At the same time, about 12 percent of Americans think Obama is a Muslim, a misconception that has persisted for months and been fed by Internet rumors. The touchy issue was in the news again when The New Yorker published a satirical cartoon on its cover depicting an Arab-garbed Obama and his gun-toting wife in the White House Oval Office with an American flag burning in the fireplace.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that the Obama campaign plans to appoint a liaison to the Muslim community.
A religion section on an Obama Web site, “Fight the Smears,” that was created to deal with such rumors, labels claims that he is a Muslim a “lie” and states he “has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim and is a committed Christian.”
“We know he isn't a Muslim but who cares if he is?” said Sofian Zakkout, director of the American Muslim Association of North America.
Obama's pledge “to bring communities together” is his appeal, Zakkout said, and “We don't expect him to come to us and say, ‘I'm with you.' We don't need that.” But Saaqib Rangoonwala, managing editor of Southern California InFocus, a Muslim newspaper, sees a close election in which “American Muslim votes will be needed and it is time for Muslims to take a stand ...
“Muslims are not less deserving of Obama's time than other groups that he has met with ... to his credit, he met with a Muslim leader and personally apologized to the Muslim women who were banned by campaign volunteers from sitting behind the podium at a Detroit rally because the women wore hijabs,” he said.
‘Earn their votes'
“These actions are well and good,” Rangoonwala said, but “Muslims need to let Obama know that he has to earn their votes.”
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said there was a high level of interest in the presidential election among Muslims, with the main issues being civil rights, peace in the Middle East, immigration, the economy and Islamophobia.
But he thinks Obama may be “overcompensating” in trying to correct the misconception he is a Muslim, leaving the impression that being a Muslim is somehow un-American - a “double whammy.”
“Many in the Muslim community think he is being sheepish in reaching out to them,” he said.
Obama already has faced problems within his own Christian church, having to distance himself from controversial comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, that were perceived by some as anti-American. A 2007 Pew report found that U.S. Muslims were mainly middle class and mostly in mainstream society. A later survey of likely voters by the Council on American-Islamic Relations also found them largely Democrats and young, with 75 percent of them U.S.-born or having lived in the country for 20 years or more.
The Pew reports have estimated Muslims at just 0.06 percent of the population, although other reports have placed the number higher.
In Minneapolis, which has a large concentration of Somali Muslim immigrants, Mohamed Burk, 53, said, “I'm listening and thinking,” but he is undecided between Obama and McCain.
Abdulaziz Al-Salim, 23, a Minnesota native who now lives in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where he works as a financial analyst for Saudi Aramco, the oil company, said he was sad that “being associated with Muslims is a political liability.”
But he said he would vote for Obama “for the same reasons that everyone else is supporting him. He's a unifier, charismatic and represents change.” - Reuters __


Clic here to read the story from its source.