AMPCC tells Muslims to support Bush November 7
It's official - America's over six million Muslims should vote for George W. Bush as the country's next president on November 7.
This endorsement was made October 23 by the American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC).
AMPCC is an umbrella organization which includes the four major American Muslim organizations and represents a large cross section of Muslims in America.
Bush, the presidential candidate of the Republican party, is governor of Texas and the son of former US president George Bush (1988-92).
Two key factors in selecting Bush were his outreach to the Muslim community during his campaign as well as his opposition to the law of secret evidence.
"Governor Bush took the initiative to meet with local and national representatives of the Muslim community. He also promised to address Muslim concerns on domestic and foreign policy issues," said AMPCC-PAC head Agha Saeed.
During the second presidential debate earlier this month, Bush challenged the use of secret evidence which is used in US Immigration and Naturalization Service deportation hearings. It has been used disproportionately against Muslims in America.
Input from community groups also played a role in the selection of Bush as the candidate for endorsement. Straw polls, surveys and town hall meetings conducted by the AMPCC indicated that Bush already has the support of a large cross-section of Muslims.
Importance of bloc vote stressed
The AMPCC also stressed that a Muslim bloc vote in a number of states could seriously affect the outcome of the election, especially considering Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and Bush are running neck in neck.
It will mean the Muslim voice in America will be heard in the American political arena
California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio were the states the organization singled out for possible use of the bloc vote strategy.
Not all support Bush
One group representing a number of African-American Muslims, the Coalition for Good Government, did not support the endorsement of Bush.
As well, a number of Muslim immigrants have expressed support for Gore and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in the upcoming election.
"Bush phone 9-11" by White House photo by Eric Draper - whitehouse.gov, Pledging support for New York, President George Bush talks with Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bush_phone_9-11.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Bush_phone_9-11.jpg
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