altmuslim
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It takes quite an optomistic Muslim to organize a grueling campaign for Congress, put months of your life on hold, and face off an opponent who has everything from skin color to war chest in their favor, but two Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area – Syed Mahmood and Maad Abu-Ghazalah – have doggedly pursued election to the US Congress despite the post-9/11 climate. The story of Muslims in the American political process has not been a long one, but it has so far been peppered with political neophytes who cleanse their background in order to become more electable, endorsements of candidates that backfire, and returned campaign contributions. With Abu-Ghazalah and Mahmood, there have been some successes and setbacks. For Abu-Ghazalah, running against pro-war hawk Tom Lantos, what started out as a a campaign tilting against windmills has become a real race, with Abu-Ghazalah picking up significant endorsements due to the high anti-war sentiment in the area. Mahmood, on the other hand, while making inroads into the diverse constituencies in his district, faces a blow to his campaign from a Muslim endorsement of his competitor, Pete Stark (D-Fremont). The American Muslim Political Coordination Council, which includes CAIR, AMA, AMC, and MPAC, said that their endorsement was based on Mahmood’s prospects and Stark’s support of Muslim issues. “[We’re] supporting based on issues rather than personalities,” said CAIR founder Omar Ahmed, emphasizing the difficulty they had in making the choice. “I think it was the right decision.”
Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.
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