Loading ...OPINION: Crucial for Muslims to vote Hillary Clinton
There are approximately 200,000 Muslims in Florida, around 25,000 of whom are in Broward County. Given how tight the race to the White House is this year — and the almost incessant focus on Islam and Muslims during this election cycle — they could have a crucial swing vote. Florida is going to be close, and Broward County’s Muslims might make all the difference.
Many Muslim Americans have complex feelings about all the candidates this year. As their top priority is to keep Donald Trump out, I believe their only option is to unite aroundHillary Clinton to stop Trump. Any other voting decision will empower Trump, just as a split Muslim vote in Florida in 2000 handed the White House to George W. Bush.
The split Muslim vote that year can be explained by the diversity of the American Muslim community: Florida (and Broward County’s) Muslims hail from various Muslim-majority countries, while there is also a sizable community of American born African-American Muslims.
However conflicted Florida Muslims may feel (an experience mirrored in many American communities), the one certainty is that like it or not, they are part of this campaign. Many Muslims rightly see this election as being about more than partisan politics: it is about their ability to continue their lives as proud Americans.
Donald Trump doesn’t want to win hearts and minds; he wants to divide and conquer. And he is having some success in dividing the Muslim vote in order to conquer the election. Unlike in 2008 and 2012 when the Muslim vote overwhelmingly went to Obama, this year things are more complex.
Although most Muslim voters understand that voting Hillary is the only way to stop Trump, some are not planning to vote, and yet others are tempted to “vote with their conscience” and support a third party candidate such as Jill Stein. Many of the latter group are unaware of the electoral advantage this hands to Trump.
It’s important to remember that almost half of Muslim Americans are under 35. Many of them weren’t of voting age in 2000, and may not have been politically active in the Bush years. Growing up in that turbulent time may have made them inherently suspicious of mainstream politics, and increased their literal apathy (i.e. not voting), or effective apathy (i.e. voting for a third party). It is difficult to predict what their voting behavior will be. I hope and pray that they vote with their heads, not their hearts, and come out for Hillary.
While very few Muslim Americans are still openly supporting Trump, many have reservations about Hillary, especially with regards to her involvement in US intervention in the Middle East, and the perception amongst some that she lacks a balanced approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict (a source very close to my heart).
At the same time, she has a demonstrable track record of championing Muslims in the biggest way possible: her chief advisor and “second daughter” Huma Abedin is a Muslim. And Trump supporters’ attacks on Abedin, which often mention her Muslim heritage as a negative, are likely to (counterproductively, from Trump’s perspective) bring more Muslim Americans into the Hillary camp.
I fear for my children and grandchildren in Trump’s America. I am terrified of what a Trump presidency would actually look like. Even if I was a Republican, I would vote for Hillary to stop Trump. Even if I deeply sympathized with Jill Stein’s platform, I would vote for Hillary to stop Trump. Even if I hated politics and had never voted, I would vote for Hillary to stop Trump.
Because this is about more than politics. This is even about more than the presidency — this is about mine, and my grandchildren’s, lives. Only a united Muslim vote for Hillary can protect their future.