Obama! Obama!….and the Muslim Vote

by Omid Safi

The 2008 election is in many ways a watershed moment for American politics. A great deal of attention, justifiably so, has gone towards the possibility of the first nomination of a black candidate, or that of a female candidate. A lesser-told story, however, deals with the increased political maturation of the six-million strong American Muslim community, and its enthusiastic support of Barack Obama.

As is the case with many other Americans, American Muslims display a profound disgust with the erosion of civil liberties, policies of rampant militarism, systematic corruption, and arrogance that the Bush administration has displayed over the last eight years. In the 2000 elections, the American Muslims were still largely a gullible political community, and a majority of American Muslims voted for Bush. Eight years later Bush’s support among the same community would probably be in the single digits. The overwhelming support of the Muslim community now has shifted to the democratic side, specifically the person of Barack Obama.

All the candidates talk about Muslims, but very few talk with Muslims. If they did they would discover that all the same issues of education, environment, economy, healthcare, and our standing in the world community that affect all Americans also affect American Muslims.

For understandable reasons, American Muslims care a great deal about US foreign policies, as it is Muslim bodies—far too many of them dead ones—that bear the brunt of the US assault. Ever since 9/11, the US has been involved in wars in two Muslim countries (Iraq and Afghanistan), with a civilian death toll of perhaps 100,000—or more. In addition, if we recall the farce that is the one-sided US support for Israel at the same time that the US uses the rhetoric of being an impartial peace-maker, as well as support for dictatorial regimes in Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi, it is easy to see why many American Muslims are genuinely invested in finding a candidate who actually sees the United States as responsible member of a global community, and not a hegemonic militaristic force.

None of the Republicans get serious attention from American Muslims. It is telling that the three candidates who had used the most vitriolic anti-Muslim language (Giuliani, Thompson, and Romney) have all dropped out of the race. At some level it seems that this hate-filled language has failed to capture even the imagination of the Republican base. As for the likely remaining candidate, McCain, he continues to promise “victory” in Iraq by increasing the level of troops and arms in Iraq. The same McCain has talked about his notion that America is a Christian nation, and that Muslims are not fit to lead this country. Even more explicitly, he agreed with the fascist Bill O’Reilly that immigrants “want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you’re a part, and so am I….” Some on the Right, at least, would pretend to hide their notion of race and wealth privilege, but not McCain.

As for the Democrats, it is remarkable how little interest Hillary Clinton generates, mainly because many Muslims do not trust her ethics. She has done everything in her power to antagonize Muslims by embracing ardently pro-Israel positions. Her embrace of positions such as an “undivided” Jerusalem would signal even further suffering and catastrophe—even ethnic cleansing—for Palestinians. In addition, she is so thoroughly beholden to the corporate establishment that she is in many ways the “Establishment” candidate. She is a woman, but she is actually not overturning the political paradigm. Here, Muslims are in agreement with most Americans that the political process is in need of genuine change, and Hillary is not the one to bring about that change.

The real candidate who represents change, for Muslims as for so many Americans, is Obama. There is tremendous interest in Obama among many American Muslims, and conversations around Muslim dining room tables in many ways resemble conversations around the dining room tables of other Americans: the audacity to hope, daring to dream that it is possible for the good and the noble to rise up through the political process. Obama’s cosmopolitanism—raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, son of a white Midwestern mother and a Kenyan father—greatly resonates with many Muslims who want their president to be a global citizen, and not a parochial dimwit. In refusing corporate backing, Obama has been free to articulate his own views without having to worry about pleasing the various lobbies.

Muslim communities, like many other communities in this country, are not immune to racism, and it is indeed a sign of their political maturation that they have embraced the best candidate not because he is black, and not in spite of him being black, but simply due to the content of his character, and because of his vision for this country, and for our shared world.

Obama is not a perfect candidate, but he is the best that we have got. Like any other political candidate, he too has had to pander to the Israel Lobby. Earlier in his political life Obama sat next to Edward Said in Arab-American functions, promoting a view of US foreign policy towards Palestine & Israel that was rooted in peace and justice. He has had to distance himself from that stance under the close scrutiny of the Israel Lobby that has anxiously watched his every word. Yet many Muslims remain hopeful that a President Obama will bring his vision of peace and justice back to all the areas of US foreign policy, including the bleeding wound that is Palestine/Israel.

There are thousands of Muslims who will go to the voting booths for the first time, motivated by the dream of a better tomorrow for America, and for the world community. Overwhelmingly, they will be casting their votes for Obama.