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AAI in the News

Arab-Americans Vote 2-1 for Democrats to Repudiate Bush Mideast Policies

Kuwait News Agency
Posted on Thursday November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (KUNA)—While Arab-Americans voted more than 2-1 for Democrats on Tuesday, they did so mainly as a repudiation of Bush administration policies in the Middle East, and not because Democrats had a good Mideast policy alternative, Arab American Institute (AAI) President James Zogby said on Wednesday.

During a post-election briefing at AAI headquarters, Zogby predicted that should a viable Republican emerge in the future with better policies for the region, Arab-Americans would switch their allegiances to such a Republican.

At stake in the election on Tuesday was whether Bush would be a lame duck under attack for the next two years of his term, or be relatively free to choose his policies, Zogby said. “It was the former,” he added.

With Democrats in control of the U.S. House, “real changes will take place” that affect Arab-Americans, Zogby said.

For example, Democratic Representative John Conyers of Michigan, an Arab-American stronghold, will chair the House Judiciary Committee instead of Republican Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Zogby noted.

This will mean that civil liberties issues of concern to Arab-Americans will get a hearing, Zogby said.

Another example is that Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas will chair the House Immigration Subcommittee instead of Republican Representative James Hostetler of Indiana, and Arab-American immigration issues will now be heard, Zogby said.

While some candidates backed by AAI won and others lost, Zogby noted that one particular bright spot was the election of Keith Ellison, a black Muslim and Minnesota Democrat who prevailed with 56 percent of the vote in a district that is 80 percent white.

“He will be great, and will prove that religion does not matter in terms of being a good congressman,” Zogby said.

The Arab-American community did a great job of turning out their voters in several key states, and in Pennsylvania made a difference in four or five close congressional races, Zogby said, noting that in these races they turned out thousands of their voters in districts that in some cases were decided by only 500 to 600 votes.

“In 82 percent of the elections we (AAI) worked on, we won,” Zogby said.

John Zogby, the pollster and brother of James Zogby, said that while the election on Tuesday was a referendum on Bush and the Iraq war, exit polls showed that corruption, the economy and terrorism were also top concerns among voters. Democrats got the vote on all those issues except the war on terrorism, which polls showed broke 52 percent for Republicans and 46 percent for Democrats—a big improvement for Democrats on an issue that the Republicans had dominated by much larger margins ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Democratic voters solidified their vote earlier this year than did the Republicans, John Zogby said, while a key part of the former Republican base—born-again Christians and conservatives—were troubled by the Iraq war, budget deficits and government corruption.

Libertarian conservatives were troubled this election year by the U.S. Patriot Act and other civil liberties issues, he said.

Bush was able to win over some undecided voters during the last weekend before the election in some of the districts he visited, Zogby said, but in 40 of the most competitive House districts, 30 were held by Republican incumbents, and this was a bad year for Republican incumbents.

Asked by KUNA to assess future U.S. policy in Iraq, based on the election results, James Zogby said that the Bush administration had so “dumped down” its definition of victory in Iraq that “whatever happens they will still call it victory.” Zogby was equally critical of the Democrats, however, saying they have only “half a position” on Iraq—to pull out about half the troops, but with no real policy.

Both Bush and the new Democratic leaders are pointing to the Iraq Survey Group, the bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker, for its recommendations on Iraq, he noted. The Democrats are “too weak and cowardly to say more,” he said, adding, “I find this deplorable.” Zogby said he has never seen the region that includes Iraq, the Levant and the Palestinian territories in as much turmoil as it is today, when Americans are hated more, and the suffering is so deep and widespread.

Neglect, despair and anger are worse than ever in the region, and the last five years have been “the icing on the cake,” he said.

Zogby said he is not confident that either U.S. political party will have the answers by the 2008 U.S. presidential election year, and that the Iraq war will be just as big an issue in 2008 as it was in 2006. And Lebanon and Palestine will still be suffering in 2008, he added.