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Presidential Candidates, Top Leaders Address AAI's National Leadership Conference

Click here to look at pictures from the National Leadership Conference! (To see the full captions above the photos, either click on the photo or click "view as slideshow" at the top of the page.)

Over 600 Arab Americans from across the country attended AAI’s 2007 National Leadership Conference from October 26-28 in Dearborn, MI. Conference participants gathered to hear from presidential candidates including Republican candidate Ron Paul and Democratic candidates Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel. Attendees also heard from representatives of the campaigns of Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, and saw video messages from the candidates.

Watch videos of Presidential candidates Bill Richardson, Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards addressing Arab Americans at the National Leadership Conference:
Bill Richardson video
Ron Paul video
Hillary Clinton video
Barack Obama video
John Edwards video

NLC attendees were also addressed by DNC Chairman Howard Dean; Senators John Sununu (R-NH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); Congressmen Charles Boustany (R-LA), John Dingell (D-MI) and John Conyers (D-MI); Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer; and Michigan Republican Party Chairman Gerry Mason.

The conference also served as a venue for Arab Americans to gather and work to develop an Arab American agenda for the 2008 presidential election. The NLC featured:

• A panel analyzing the 2008 presidential election, featuring pollster John Zogby, Democratic strategist Peter Fenn, and Republican strategist Ed Rollins;
  
  
• A bloggers panel with Spencer Ackerman (TPM Muckraker), George Ajjan (The Aleppine Elephant), Steve Clemons (The Washington Note), and Reihan Salam (The American Scene);
  
  
• A panel on “Middle East Policy and Electoral Politics” featuring University of Virginia professor William Quandt and representatives of Arab American organizations that endorsed the NLC, discussing policy on Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon. Over 40 community organizations endorsed the conference. Click here to view a complete list of endorsing organizations.
  
  
• A forum on civil liberties, immigrant rights, and national security as wedge issues in the campaign, led by Kary Moss (American Civil Liberties Union), Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform), Michael Ostrolenk (American Conservative Defense Alliance), Noel Saleh (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), and Linda Mansour (Greater Toledo Arab American Association);
  
  
• Political training workshops conducted by Wellstone Action, the SPIN Project, Alliance for Justice, and the Information Services Group; and
  
  
• A discussion on Arab Americans’ place in the political parties, featuring Arab American elected officials and political consultants and staffers.