Arabs play role in swing states

? After almost three years of investigation and perceived harassment by federal authorities, Arab- and Muslim Americans are coalescing into a voting bloc that could play a new and significant role in the coming presidential election, particularly in swing states.

Several polls conducted this summer show the population is lining up behind Democratic candidate John Kerry and abandoning George W. Bush. In contrast, Arab-Americans gave Bush a plurality of their vote in 2000, according to polls conducted then.

Almost half of Arab-Americans who are registered U.S. voters back Kerry, while 16 percent support Bush and 14 percent back independent candidate Ralph Nader who is of Lebanese descent, according to a new poll. It was released last week by the ethnic media coalition New California Media and the human rights group Amnesty International.

Although California claims more Arabs than any other state, many live in states where the race is close.

More Arab-Americans in the swing states of Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania plan to vote for Kerry than Bush by a 19-point margin, according to a July study by the polling firm Zogby International for The Arab American Institute.

“It could be a significant factor because most of these states are so close, and the way (Arab-Americans) go could influence a few states in their direction,” said pollster Sergio Bendixen, who supervised the New California Media survey.

Census figures count 1.2 million Arabs in the United States with 250,000 Pakistanis, 340,000 Iranians and hundreds of thousands of other non-Arab Muslims.