Thread: Obama Steers Clear of Michigan Muslims He May Need to Win

Obama Steers Clear of Michigan Muslims He May Need to Win State

By Heidi Przybyla

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- The cover of this week's New Yorker magazine may explain why Barack Obama isn't reaching out to Michigan's Muslims.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is shown in the Oval Office, wearing a turban and bumping fists with his wife, Michelle, who is in combat boots with a rifle slung over her shoulder. The cartoon, intended as satire, is a reminder of the dangers of any association with Muslims for Obama, who has fought false rumors that his middle name, Hussein, indicates he was born into the Islamic faith.

Muslim- and Arab-Americans represent 4 percent of the vote in Michigan, a battleground in this year's election. Yet Obama, who has held 13 events in the state during the presidential campaign, hasn't visited a mosque or met with Muslim leaders.

Bill Ballenger, editor of the nonpartisan newsletter Inside Michigan Politics, said Obama, 46, has to strike a delicate balance. The Illinois senator ``doesn't have to pander'' to such voters, who are likely to back him anyway, though he can ill- afford to ``dismiss them in an arrogant fashion.''

While Obama is leading in Michigan polls, some politicians said it would be a mistake for him not to actively court the state's Muslim voters, who went for Democrat John Kerry four years ago and Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

`Peril' for Democrats

The Democrats ``do this at their own peril,'' said David Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is advising Obama.

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, complained that Obama's arms-length approach demonstrates that he views Muslims as ``a liability.''

Many Muslims who once leaned Republican have been turned off by the Iraq war and the law-enforcement scrutiny of their community put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks. Nationally, only 8 percent of Muslims identify themselves as Republican, compared with 49 percent who say they are Democrats, according to the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. In 2006, the percentage was 17 percent Republican to 42 percent Democratic.

Thus, most experts don't expect Republican presidential nominee John McCain to carry the Muslim vote, though they said Obama's failure to build bridges could depress turnout or boost support for potential third-party candidate Ralph Nader, who is of Lebanese descent.

Nader Threat

Nader, 74, who was on the ballot in Michigan in 2004, is petitioning to do so again this year. He could hurt Obama by peeling off 25 percent of the Arab community's vote, said Morley Winograd, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

``You have in Ralph Nader's candidacy a genuine Arab- American who has a lot of notoriety and publicity,'' he said. It ``would be detrimental to Obama's candidacy.''

Muslims in and around Detroit said they have been worried by several recent controversies, particularly a report last month that Obama campaign aides removed two young women wearing Muslim headscarves, called hijabs, from his camera backdrop. The candidate later called the women to apologize.

Hassan Habhab, a 28-year-old Democrat who works at a Dearborn mall, said he supported Obama until the incident, though he hadn't heard about the apology.

``I don't know if I should vote for somebody like that,'' he said.

Jerusalem Status

Some of Obama's foreign-policy stances also have raised concern. Last month, he was criticized by Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, after he told the Washington-based American Israel Public Affairs Council, the leading pro-Israel lobbying group, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel.

``As long as he believes this way, I do not believe he is going to get the overwhelming support of our community,'' said Siblani, who voted for Bush in 2000 and Kerry in 2004.

In addition, many Muslims said they were offended by the Obama camp's denials of the rumors about his roots, which they said made it appear that an Islamic identity is shameful.

``I cringe every time I hear their response to these slanders,'' Bonior said. ``He should educate people to let them know the overwhelming majority of Muslims and Arab-Americans are wonderful, decent, good people.''

Last night, in an interview on CNN's ``Larry King Live,'' Obama rejected the rumors in his strongest language to date and criticized the New Yorker cover, calling them an ``insult against Muslim-Americans.''

Request for Meetings

Several Muslim and Arab leaders said they would like to meet with Obama. They said they haven't had any direct meetings with Arizona Senator McCain, 71, either.

``We're not asking for much,'' said Imad Hamad, regional director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn. ``We're asking for equal opportunity and equal time and equal respect. They've met with other communities, so why is the Arab-American, Muslim community out of the loop?''

Some Muslim Obama backers said they understood their candidate's motivation in keeping his distance.

``There's an Islamophobic wave,'' said Ron Amen, an Obama volunteer who is also the facility manager at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. ``I understand him making an effort to convince people that he's not a Muslim; I don't want to see Obama get saddled with any more baggage as a result of support from Arabs and Muslims.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Detroit at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 16, 2008 00:01 EDT
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Obama is going to have to field alot of this, especially after pandering to the latinos/hispanics. Other groups will not forget this slight. He might have gotten NCLR endorsement to his detriment. The latino vote will NOT win him the election.

I say you reap what you sow, obama man!