Muslims for Bush! Muslim Organizations Officially Undecided, But Muslim Americans Pour Thousands into 2004 Bush Campaign

By Ahmed Nassef

While most Muslim and Arab American organizations have so far stayed away from openly endorsing a presidential candidate, many wealthy individuals in the community have already stepped up to the plate to donate hundreds of thousands to Bush's 2004 campaign war chest.

The 2000 Endorsement Debacle

Back in 2000, major Muslim organizations rallied around George W. Bush. Groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and others formed the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) and announced their strong endorsement of Bush in the general election campaign. Soon after Bush’s victory, AMPCC proudly took credit, claiming that the Muslim vote in Florida put the Bush team over the top.

Recently, far-right supporters of the Bush Administration have been up in arms over the President's dealings with Muslim American groups in the 2000 campaign. They detail stories of backroom deals, meetings with senior Bush campaign officials, even with Bush himself, that were attended by members of AMPCC, including CAIR officials.

During the second presidential debate with Democrat Al Gore, George Bush gave AMPCC what it had asked for, a statement against racial profiling and secret evidence that sounds exceedingly hollow today. "Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what's called secret evidence," Bush said. "People are stopped, and we've got to do something about that." He did do something about it of course--he made it into a routine practice.

In addition to citing Bush's sudden concern for civil rights, AMPCC's mosque network used fear tactics to mobilize rank and file support for Bush--many mosque leaders around the country stressed the Democratic Party's liberal positions on abortion and gay rights in order to drive more traditionally-minded Muslims away from voting for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. As Mahjabeen Islam-Husain, then chair of the Ohio branch of AMPCC member American Muslim Alliance (AMA) wrote at the time, "Bush has a better sense of justice and fairness and moral and family values than Gore. He is not afraid to say that he is against gay marriages-Gore says so but with many a qualification."

Citing exit polls that showed only 8% of Muslims voted for Gore, compared to 24% who said they supported him just two months earlier (a CAIR poll released in June of 2000 actually had shown Gore ahead of Bush among Muslim Americans), CAIR issued a press release in November 2000 to take credit for the change. "The shift in support is attributed to the October 23 endorsement of Bush by the American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC)," the statement said. (CAIR's polls have tended to focus on the groups' own members and supporters, most of whom are first or second generation immigrants. African Americans, who constitute the single largest ethnic group among Muslim Americans nationwide, voted overwhelmingly for Gore.)

An AMA press release triumphantly proclaimed after Bush's victory, "Without [Muslims'] thousands of votes in the Sunshine State, a newly inaugurated Al Gore would currently be proposing a new slate of excuses for picking the American pocket."

Dazed and Confused: Muslim Organizations and the 2004 Election

After Bush's reported promises of Muslim appointments to top White House posts never materialized, and after several years of policies that have been highly unpopular in the Muslim community, the major Muslim organizations are more timid about their endorsement plans in 2004.

The upcoming presidential election has put many mainstream organizations in a difficult position. While many wealthy individual donors that support them strongly favor Bush's conservative policies, Bush's support among Muslim Americans and Arab Americans has evaporated, due to the Administration's handling of civil liberties and foreign policy issues. In a straw poll held at MPAC's annual convention last December, only 2% of delegates said they planned to vote for Bush. Although MPAC delegates tend to be more liberal, the trend is mirrored in other polls in the Muslim and Arab American communities. A January poll of Arab Americans commissioned by the Arab American Institute showed approval for the President at 38%, down from 83% shortly after September 11th.

With this kind of disaffection, Muslim American organizations will be hard-pressed to publicly support Bush for a second term. However, uniting behind a socially liberal candidate like John Kerry will not be an easy task either, especially when it comes to selling that choice to ultra-conservative local mosque leaders.

A potential sign of current troubles is the fact that some AMPCC members can't agree on whether AMPCC still exists.

CAIR says they're still members, probably. "AMPCC is an ad hoc group that came together for specific purposes, and as far as I know we’re still involved in it," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR Communications Director. But, according to Sarah Eltantawi, Communications Director for MPAC, "For all intents and purposes, AMPCC is frozen and MPAC is not involved." Eltantawi says that there is a good chance MPAC may not even make an endorsement this time around.

There is also disagreement on whether the 2000 endorsement was a mistake. "Given the circumstances at the time, it was reasonable," says Hooper. MPAC's Eltantawi, however, sees things differently. "I think it was a mistake, but that's my personal opinion. We don’t have an official position," she says.

After the 2000 Bush victory, AMPCC members were quick to extol the virtues of a new Muslim bloc vote that would make the difference in close elections and lead to new political empowerment for the community. This time around, however, some Muslim organizations are shying away from that concept. "We’re really questioning the concept of a bloc vote," Eltantawi says. "There are different ways of organizing Muslims that elevate the participation. Our job is to educate and empower not tell people what to do."

MPAC and CAIR are members of a new umbrella organization, the American Muslim Taskforce (AMT). The group, which includes others that were not part of AMPCC such as the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) pledges to evaluate candidates with a special emphasis on their civil rights record. Although it promises to issue a scorecard on the presidential candidates "to enable community members to make informed judgments," no mention is made on AMT's website regarding plans for an endorsement.

Big Muslim Money Goes to Bush

Although many younger Muslim and Arab American activists have decided to go their own way--many have gotten active in the presidential campaigns of Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich--the big money people still seem to be going Bush's way.

The New York Times reports that Muslim and Arab Americans have already added hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush's sizeable campaign war chest. Several Muslim and Arab Americans have reached the Bush campaign's "Ranger" and "Pioneer" donor levels, raising a minimum of $200,000 and $100,000 respectively.

Two of Bush's top financial backers are Florida-based Iranian Americans. Fred Pezeshkan, president and CEO of Kraft Construction Company in Naples (don't miss Pezeshkan's inspiring video presentation) and Morteza (Mori) Hosseini (right), CEO of ICI Homes, a Daytona Beach real estate development company, have each donated $200,000 to the campaign. For Hosseini, this has bought special access to the President, including an invitation to a White House Christmas party and a private meeting with Bush.

Another major Bush backer is Dr. Malik Hasan, former CEO of the nation's 4th largest HMO, Foundation Health Systems. According to the Times, Hasan has donated "several hundred thousand dollars," earning him a personal visit with the President at his Crawford, Texas ranch.

In 2002, Hasan formed the Council of American Muslims for Understanding, a group that is partially funded by the US State Department.

According to a September 2003 US General Accounting Office report, the US government worked with the Council to create a website, called "Open Dialogue," that was "intended to create a forum for dialogue between Muslim Americans and other Muslims of the world."

For Hasan and his family, however, being a Bush benefactor may get you special visits to the Texas ranch, but not special treatment at US airports. Hasan's wife, Seeme, told the New York Times that her son was "recently surrounded by the police and detained at an airport for no apparent reason other than his ethnic background."

Ahmed Nassef is editor-in-chief of MuslimWakeUp.com. He can be reached at anassef@muslimwakeup.com