A tale of two parties

Tuesday saw the first debate for Democratic presidential candidates. The GOP has already had two highly publicized debates, and the differences between the Democratic and GOP debates were stark. 

Apart from the difference in numbers- the Republicans having at one point 16 candidates, compared to the Democrats’ five- the energy of the debates was markedly different. The GOP debates reflected the state of the party, with all the theatrics needed to vie for an increasingly polarized base, while the Democrats focused on a more substantive look at policy.  

{mosads}Most interesting about the Democrats debate was not what was said by the candidates, but what was not said. Absent were the identity politics of the GOP debates. No mentions of “Islamic” terror. While the Republicans have focused on exclusion this campaign season- building walls on the southern border or not wanting a Muslim president– the Democrats played to their base, putting a focus on women and minorities, including supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Martin O’Malley summed it up succinctly, saying, “On this stage you didn’t hear anyone denigrate women, you didn’t hear anyone make racist comments about new immigrants, you didn’t hear anyone speak ill of anyone because of their religious belief.” 

It is precisely the fact that we did not hear any of those things that it becomes clear why the American Muslim community is overwhelmingly Democratic. Some Republicans have gone out of their way to marginalize American Muslims in order to secure votes from a very specific group. While President Obama has made very clear that saying “Islamic terror” is not only inaccurate and gives terrorists legitimacy, Republicans have doubled down and claimed that it is accurately identifying the problem, not realizing they are alienating a whole group of Americans. 

American Muslims voted Republican overwhelmingly 15 years ago. Forty-two percent voted for President Bush in 2000. Just four years later, Muslims overwhelmingly voted for Kerry, with 76 percent supporting him. 

Being politically engaged is a two-way street. American Muslims must make themselves a significant voting or financial bloc for candidates to be considered real players in the political arena. While investing in building mosques, we must not ignore investing in our communities and institutions. We must remain involved and active on the issues that impact us and our communities; to that end, we cannot be politically passive. 

Inam is a policy analyst with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), an organization working to protect the civil rights of American Muslims.