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Monday November 05, 2012

In Lead-Up to Election, Presidential Campaigns Court Arab American Vote

Posted by Samer Araabi at 1:17 pm

In the final hours of the 2012 presidential campaign, both candidates are courting the Arab American vote, a vital constituency in many of the remaining key swing states.

On October 15, the Romney campaign announced an “Arab-Americans for Romney” coalition to support his candidacy:

“I am very proud to have so many distinguished Arab-Americans on my team,” said Romney. “This country has been a beacon to people around the globe. The American Dream belongs to the world, but lately, it has been harder to pursue that dream. I am committed to bringing prosperity to the United States and creating the good jobs that foster opportunity and will inspire another generation of dreamers. Together, we will restore America to the land of possibility it has always been.”

And at the end of October, the Obama campaign issued the following statement:

“President Obama is fighting to move our country forward. That’s why Arab Americans from across the nation are organizing to support the President and his commitment to issues important to their community – like building an economy from the middle out, continuing investments in education, and making sure everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. Mitt Romney is now threatening to roll back the progress we’ve made together these past four years by raising taxes on the middle class to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires – the same top-down approach that crashed our economy in the first place. President Obama understands the important role Arab Americans play in this election and will continue to fight for them in a second term.”

AAI’s own internal research has shown that over 100,000 undecided Arab American voters reside in the five key states of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The outreach from both campaigns to the Arab American community is clear a demonstration that the Arab American vote is considered to be a valuable and necessary component to any presidential election strategy. It’s an encouraging sign of the tremendous growth of Arab American political participation since AAI was founded in 1985.

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