Well, that was one pearl of wisdom shared by a gentleman, the other day (one advantage of Eid is you get to meet a whole spectrum of people to talk about nothing’ess going on in the world). His theory is that if Gore had not picked up a jew, muslim votes may not have gone Bush’s way, and they may have stuck with Dems who usually have a more liberal approach on civil liberties.
Though no one could have predicted a 9/11, back in 2000, and the subsequent erosion of muslim way of life in the US, but just a thought as to which way muslim vote would have gone had it not been for Lieberman. By one estimate 72% of muslims who voted, gave their vote to Bush, in line with the recommendations of muslim organization back then. So its a pretty high number, especially in close contests.
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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
Or blame the Muslims who let their hate for Jews skew their vote.
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Well, either way. Hypothetically, would muslim vote had gone Gore's way had he not picked up Lieberman as his running mate? Thats the question.
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*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
I think lieberman or not muslims traditionally have voted for GOP
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Why is that? Bcz GOP/conservatives are more religiously-inclined as opposed to free-love-loose-morals-leftie liberals?
I think you are too limiting in your question. It's not just a question of the ** Muslim ** vote going for Bush because of Lieberman. Other threads have discussed it so I will not belabor the point. POINT: There is still a great deal of latent anti-Semitism in America. In Florida, did 1,000 people vote for Bush because Lieberman was a jew? Could be Muslims or could be Catholics or Protestants or Blacks or whomever. There were other very close votes in states too. I sincerely doubt that the number of people who voted FOR Gore/Lieberman based upon Joe being named VP was greater than the number who voted AGAINST Gore/Lieberman based solely on Joe's religion.
It's not politically correct to really discuss these issues and I doubt any polling group or think tank ever seriously tried to determine the impact of Joe's religion on a person's vote. Besides, most people who voted against Joe because he was a jew would probably tell someone that he voted on some other basis. Except for nuts like the KKK, people like to hide their bigotry, not advertise it.
Thanks mv. Although I think polls should have captured this very basic question back in 2000. Although my question was perhaps more clearly posted here than in the first post.
Anyway, to continue on to the core question, in hind-sight now, for the last 15-20 years, will it be a fair statement that the Dem Presidents were “better” for muslims in the US and all over the world, compared to GOP Presidents. Feel free to define “better” anyway you like.
ps. And had it not been for Lieberman being a jew, muslims may just have endorsed Gore? Dicey, but possible.
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*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Anyway, to continue on to the core question, in hind-sight now, for the last 15-20 years, will it be a fair statement that the Dem Presidents were "better" for muslims in the US and all over the world, compared to GOP Presidents. Feel free to define "better" anyway you like.
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The question would remain, that would a dem president done things differently than W did, what could have been his actions, and what could have been the impact.
Now dont forget that people were ticked off at slick willie for the whole sanctions thing against Iraq and those against pak due to nuke tests, as well as lobbing the missiles in afghanistan and to some pharma factories.
with gore in power a lot of the ppl involved would have been the same ppl who were in slick willie's govt.
As far as actions taken..domestically or internationally, we can only guess what they would have done.
As a kid i used to read these "what if" series comics.. what would happen if a different decision was made at some point in time...sometimes until you read the what if scenarios you were nto pleased with the actual story line, but once you realized what else could have happened that did not, you stopped some of that wishful thinking.
in summary... no one knows what dems in power would have done in these circumstances, for all I know, we could all be subjected to the same as Japanese americans during the world war...and the war may have centered not on Afghanistan and Iraq, but on Afghanistan and Pakistan or afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
Anecdotal evidence, while appreciated, will probably not help us all that much (blame it on ahmadjee's leftist-bell-bottoms). Gross generalizations is what I am looking for. And perhaps some opinions. Its all historic what-if anyway.
I find it hard to believe that the party that captures the jewish vote (by huge margins) would ever capture a big majority of the Muslim vote. On a whole host of social issues, it is my perception that “typical Muslims” embrace the same or similar values as the “typical” christian right. These values are promoted more by the GOP than the DEMs. If your main foreign policy issue is Israel/Palestine, you’ve got to ask yourself which party is more likely to take a stance critical of Israel? Is it the one that typical pulls 75-90% of the jewish vote in America (DEMs)?
As to your other question, there has only been Clinton as a DEM President for the last 26 years so I don’t see how you can have a representative sample upon which to make a judgment.
To go out on a limb, my view is that muslims (in the US) are against status que, period. All administrations piss them off (equal opportunity). So they for ever keep on voting for change, hoping (against hope) someone will come in and be fair. With Gore-Lieberman, his being jew was probably an icing on the cake, for them to oppose four more years to Dems. In '04 they will again be changing their horses in mid-stream.
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*Originally posted by myvoice: *
As to your other question, there has only been Clinton as a DEM President for the last 26 years so I don't see how you can have a representative sample upon which to make a judgment.
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Really? I thought Carter was a Dem too. No?