Big deal.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Posted on 04/28/2004 1:23:36 PM PDT by ambrose
Arab-Americans Would Pick Kerry Over Bush -Poll Wed Apr 28, 2004 03:45 PM ET
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arab-Americans in four battleground U.S. 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 on Wednesday.
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 percent of Arab-Americans in these states would vote for Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, in a two-way race, while only 30 percent would pick Republican President Bush, and 21 percent said they would vote for someone else or were unsure, the poll found.
Kerry's numbers were down 5 points from a February tracking poll of this population, while Bush stayed the same.
When consumer advocate Ralph Nader was added to the mix, 28 percent said they would vote for Bush, 45 percent for Kerry, 14 percent for Nader, an Arab-American. Fourteen percent 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 27 percent said Bush would do the best job there, while 44 percent picked Kerry.
Among the other nine top issues, Kerry got higher marks than Bush in all but one category, the handling of terrorism and national security, where 39 percent said Bush would do the best job, compared to 30 percent for Kerry.
On the divisive issue of Israel and the Palestinians, 22 percent said they had more confidence in Kerry, 16 percent picked Bush and 48 percent said neither. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
John Zogby said Arab-Americans account for just over 1 percent of likely U.S. voters, compared with American Jews, who account for 4 percent and have long been courted by presidential candidates.
Zogby International found in an April 15 poll that likely Jewish voters solidly favored Kerry, with 66 percent picking him in a three-way race; 22 percent chose Bush, 3 percent picked Nader and 9 percent were unsure. That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent.
In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won Michigan and Pennsylvania by just over than 200,000 votes in each state, while Bush won Ohio by 165,000 and the two tied in Florida.
Big deal.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
So, 59% of Arab-Americans are Al-Qaeda sympathizers and another 13% won't admit it publicly. That's about what I expected.
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