Muslim group endorses Kerry

The Muslim American Political Action Committee has formally endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president.

“What does it mean for Muslim Americans if President Bush is re-elected?” asked Mukit Hossain, president of MAPAC, in making the announcement. “It means more constricting laws and policies to curtail the civil liberties of the Muslim Americans, and harsher foreign policies toward Muslim countries – in the name of combating terrorism. It also means a continuing and menacing rise of anti-Muslim sentiment in America, covertly nurtured by the neoconservatives, and openly fanned by government officials like Lt. General (William) Boykin and Attorney General John Ashcroft.”

Hossain, a telecommunications entrepreneur who emigrated from Bangladesh, said the decision to endorse Kerry came after months of considerations, discussions with Muslim American leaders across the country, and extensive dialog with the Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party leadership.

“Since Senator Kerry is not controlled by religious and political ideologues, the possibility of an open and productive dialog with the Kerry administration for the Muslim Americans remains alive,” he said. “The Kerry campaign has already shown an eagerness to be inclusive, and an inclination to engage in such a dialog. So, the only viable option open to the Muslim Americans is to strongly support John Kerry and assert ourselves as an important part of the electorate – as the swing votes in the battleground states, we are poised to do so. At the same time, before the election, we must extensively strive to impress on the Kerry campaign the crucial importance of the Muslim American voters through active engagement.”

But will the formal endorsement of a Muslim American group help or hurt Kerry?

If another group’s poll is correct, it could backfire. According to a poll released by a the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one in four Americans holds negative views of Muslims generally.

CAIR’s survey found:

• More than one-fourth of survey respondents agreed with stereotypes such as
  “Muslims teach their children to hate” and “Muslims value life less than
  other people.”
• When asked what comes to mind when they hear “Muslim,” 32 percent of
  respondents made negative comments. Only two percent had a positive response.
• Those with the most negative attitudes toward Islam and Muslims tend to be
  less-educated white males who are politically conservative.
• While half of respondents believed that American Muslims are “cooperating”
  in the war on terror, 50 percent did not believe that they are actively
  “condemning” terrorist acts.

Meanwhile, MAPAC – in cooperation with the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation – has been creating a database of the Muslim American voters in the battleground states and other states where there are large presence of the community. According to preliminary findings, the group says, battleground states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida have enough Muslim American votes to provide a formidable swing bloc.