Arab-Americans 'Back Kerry'

30/04/2004| IslamWeb

Arab-Americans in four battleground US states would choose Democrat John Kerry by a wide margin if the presidential election were held now, a shift from their strong support of George W Bush in 2000, a new poll showed last night. The tracking poll, released by the Arab American Institute, looked at Arab-Americans in Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, all expected to be hard-fought contests in this year's campaign. Though there are only about 510,000 likely Arab-American voters in the states, the race could be close enough that even relatively small numbers could make a difference, John Zogby, who conducted the poll for the institute, said. "Anything that moves hundreds or even thousands of votes in any of these battleground states overall can have a seismic impact on the election," Zogby said. Forty-nine per cent of Arab-Americans in these states would vote for Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, in a two-way race, while only 30pc would pick Republican President Bush, and 21pc said they would vote for someone else or were unsure, the poll found. Kerry's numbers were down by five points from a February tracking poll of this population, while Bush stayed the same. When consumer advocate Ralph Nader was added to the mix, 28pc said they would vote for Bush, 45pc for Kerry, 14pc for Nader, an Arab-American. About 14pc said they would vote for someone else or were unsure. "Whatever the White House calculation is, they're not doing so well among Arab-American voters in these four states," said James Zogby, the institute's president and a member of the Democratic National Committee. The pollster is his brother. The most important issue among those polled was the economy, and only 27pc said Bush would do the best job there, while 44pc picked Kerry. On the divisive issue of Israel and the Palestinians, 22pc said they had more confidence in Kerry, 16pc picked Bush and 48pc said neither. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5pc. Former US vice-president Dan Quayle said expatriate votes could be the deciding factor in the November election and urged Republicans abroad to redouble efforts to register overseas voters. Speaking to more than 100 members of the German chapter of "Republicans Abroad" in Berlin, Quayle said the close 2000 race proved every vote mattered and absentee ballots cast in the pivotal state of Florida had won that election for Bush. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in Philadelphia Thursday, April 29, 2004. (AP)