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c0lo [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Chistian Science Monitor carries a story showing the raising role that Muslims in USA can play in the next election; the story bears the title of For Muslim-Americans, a big election about more than Trump [csmonitor.com]:

Donald Trump has energized a lot of Muslim-American voters. But their rising political activism goes beyond a backlash to one man.

Subhan Chaudry wants to be heard. That’s why the 17 year old (who will be 18 by Election Day) scoured Dearborn, Mich., to register as many Muslim-American voters as possible before his state’s primary last month.

And when Democrats in his city – which is 40 percent Arab – handed Bernie Sanders a convincing victory in the primary, it was a sign to him that things are changing.
...
A generation ago, the Muslim-American community tilted conservative and in many ways was most concerned with just fitting in. But since 9/11, the political shift has been dramatic.

In 2004, a majority of Muslims voted for John Kerry. By 2008, 49 percent of Muslims identified as Democrats and 89 percent voted for Barack Obama. By 2012, the number of Muslims identifying as Democrat hit 66 percent and 85 percent voted for Mr. Obama’s re-election, according to surveys by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

This year, the reasons for that shift have become even more apparent, with Mr. Trump proposing to temporarily ban all non-citizen Muslims from entering the country and Sen. Ted Cruz claiming that Muslim neighborhoods should be patrolled to prevent them becoming radicalized.

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...For her part, Jabeen Bukhari is targeting first-generation immigrants such as herself. She focuses exclusively on women, in the belief that once a woman is swayed, her household will follow.

“Behind every woman is four or five votes. That is how to really get the vote out,” says Ms. Bukhari, a Hillary Clinton supporter, who has spent weeks meeting with women in southeast Michigan.
...
“You can feel it in the street – you can feel it with people after they finish their Friday prayer that say, ‘We need to get out and vote,’” says Wilfredo Ruiz, a Muslim-American activist who has organized anti-Trump rallies in south Florida. “This is a state that is won by a percentage point. We can decide the outcome.”
...
When Rep. Allen West (R) of Florida sought reelection in 2014, he had gained a national following as an outspoken conservative. Among his targets was Islam as a “violent” religion and Rep. Keith Ellison (D) of Minnesota, a Muslim whose patriotism he questioned.

In a tight election that required two recounts, democratic rival Patrick Murphy won by 1,917 votes. Muslim activist group EMERGE reported that a registration drive resulted in 2,000 Muslim votes that went to Mr. Murphy.

Remember when the presidential election was won by only 537 votes [wikipedia.org]... in Florida?

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