WASHINGTON, 6 November — Yesterday’s midterm election was fraught with more drama than any other in the past 50 years, as Republicans struggled to regain control of the Senate and Democrats hoped to retain both their slim majority in the Senate and regain the House.
The margins are so close, that no one was willing to call a winner.
There were many firsts in the election. One state of interest is New Hampshire, where for the first time in US history, two Arab-Americans are running against each other for the state’s Senate seat.
Both nominees are well suited for the job. Rep. John Sununu, 38, is a three-term Republican House member, and son of former governor and White House chief of staff John Sununu.
Democratic contender Jeanne Shaheen, 55, has won three two-year terms as governor of New Hampshire, despite the state’s history of voting Republican. Both have been predicted to win in this tight election.
Another first is the considerable Arab American involvement in elections throughout the United States, where they have vocalized their concern — over the Bush administration’s handling of US Middle East policy — to their representatives.
A poll conducted by Zogby International, released on Monday, finds that in the 2002 congressional election, 40 percent of Arab-Americans support the Democratic Party, and 30 percent support the Republican Party.
Significantly, this 10 percent Democratic edge represents a significant decline in support for the Republicans since 2000 when Arab American voters divided their vote almost evenly between the two parties, the poll notes.
The reason for the drop of support for the Republican Party appears to be due to frustration with the policy of the Bush administration. Between one-half to three-fourths of all Arab American voters say the Middle East is an “important issue” in determining their vote. When asked how they viewed the Bush administration’s policy on the Middle East, 67 percent responded “unfavorably,” while only 28 percent responded “favorably.”
The polling data also reveals concern regarding the Bush administration’s handling of civil rights issues, which has been on a downward slide since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In October 2001, 90 percent of Arab-Americans said that they were reassured by the president’s response. In May 2002, only 54 percent of Arab-Americans felt reassured while 35 percent were not reassured.
Bilal Ayyub, a professor of engineering at the University of Maryland, who works with the Maryland Arab American Committee, concurred with the Zogby polls, saying the issues most important to Arab-Americans “are those that will directly affect our lives in the US.”
These, he said, focus on constitutional rights, civil liberties, and some of the laws introduced in Congress, such as the Patriot Act, “which gives power to the Department of Justice to infringe on constitutional rights and civil liberties.”
Another main concern is the pre-emptive war on Iraq. “We’ve been very vocal in our opposition to that, as well as the Palestinian situation, and US support of Israel. This support comes from our tax money, so we have a right to be concerned about that.”
Ayyub, who has lived in Potomac, Maryland for 20 years with his family, said the Arab American community has made an effort to meet with all the candidates. And they were organized for their meetings.
“We put together a document that summarizes our concerns on these issues. This includes homeland security, because we want to make sure there are safeguards to balance our rights and national security.
“Racial profiling, secret evidence and arbitrary closing of immigration hearings, which are not open to the public, are also matters of concern,” he said.
Another major issue on concern to the community focuses on campaign finance donations. “It is our belief that there should be some safeguards in place to make sure that the bulk of raised funds come from the district where the person is running, and not to allow money to flow in from special interest groups outside of the state.”
US-Arab relations, a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict, and Jerusalem, are also of great of concern. “We would like the US to expand its people-to-people exchanges within Muslim societies, and to encourage greater mutual understanding” Ayyub said.
The representatives they met are professional, and trying to assess the needs of their constituents, and to act accordingly, said Ayyub.
“There is a silent majority and a vocal majority, our biggest challenge is to have people who are active and vocal,” he said. “We don’t have the number of people to turn things around, but we can do so by building alliances.”
Since Sept. 11, the level of activity of Muslim and Arab-Americans has increased tremendously, said Ayyub, and they have found a significant alliance with Asian Americans.
“They are very alarmed with what is happening to Arab and Muslim Americans, because they believe any encroachment on our civil liberties and constitutional rights will affect them in the long run. Many of them have said they don’t like the new laws that have been put into affect in Congress, and they are very concerned by what is going on in the Middle East,” said Ayyub.
