Survey shows Muslims flexing political muscle

Survey shows Muslims flexing political muscle

Group is growing, young and politically active

BY BECKIE SUPIANO

Medill News Service

As Election Day nears, local Muslim advocacy groups are working to get out the vote.The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago have been working to register more of the area's approximately 400,000 Muslims to vote.

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, October 27, 2006 12:31 AM CDT

"The American-Muslim population is a growing population," said Sadiya Ahmed, governmental relations coordinator for CAIR-Chicago. "It's at a point where (the population is) becoming more politically aware."Earlier this week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released results from a national survey of 1,000 Muslim registered voters. About 89 percent of those surveyed said they vote regularly.

"Muslims are active in civic life and civic duty, and I've known it for a while, but it's good when it's public and reaffirmed," Ahmed said.

The Muslim population is relatively young -- 67 percent of respondents are between the ages of 25 and 54 -- according to the survey. Sixty-two percent of respondents have a bachelor's degree or higher and 43 percent have a household income of $50,000 or higher.

Forty-two percent of respondents said they consider themselves to be Democrats, versus 17 percent Republican and 28 percent with no party affiliation, according to the survey.

But American Muslim voters defy "simplistic labeling and maintain an independent streak..." CAIR national Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a news release.According to the survey, 55 percent of respondents said they are afraid the war in Iraq has become a war on Islam. Only 12 percent said they thought the war in Iraq was a worthwhile effort and 10 percent said they support the idea of using the military to spread democracy in other countries.

CAIR-Chicago has focused its organizing efforts on Illinois' 3rd Congressional District, which includes Chicago's southwest suburbs, where it has registered 1,055 voters, Ahmed said Wednesday.

The council is encouraging Muslims to attend a Fall Action Assembly at Trinity High School in River Forest Sunday, organized by United Power, an umbrella organization of local community groups. The gubernatorial candidates have been invited to attend."The Muslim community needs to take part in everyday civic activity to set an agenda based on their needs," Ahmed said.

Early voting starts

Most people in Chicago who didn't want to vote on Election Day used to have to be out of town or sick to vote early but a new initiative to increase voter turnout has led Illinois to have its first early voting session in an Illinois general election. Now you really don't have an excuse not to vote!

Early voting starts

Published October 16, 2006

Sources: Cook County Clerk's Office, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners
Chicago Tribune

For the first time in an Illinois general election, voters will be allowed to cast ballots as many as 22 days before Election Day without a required excuse such as military duty or illness. In the March primary, about 30,000 ballots were cast in Chicago and suburban Cook County during early voting, roughly 1 percent of all registered voters. Election officials expect that number to at least double for the general election.

Early voting: (includes Saturdays, Sundays), Oct. 16-Nov. 2

Election day: Nov. 7

What to know

- Unlike absentee voting, no excuse is required to vote early.

- Early voters will be required to present a current driver's license, state-issued identification card or another government-issued ID card with a photograph.

- Early votes cannot be modified after being cast if a voter changes his or her mind about a candidate.

- For specific locations, call your county's election office or visit chicagotribune.com/politics and click on "Early voting."

- Counties will be required to provide at least one early voting location, although some plan to provide several.

- There will be 26 early voting sites in Chicago and 32 in suburban Cook County. Chicago and suburban Cook voters can vote at any location in Chicago or suburban Cook, respectively.

How to use the touch-screen machines

Voters make their choice by touching a display of candidates on the screen. A paper record is printed on the side to back up the vote count.

Note: For early voting, only touch screens will be used in Chicago and suburban Cook County.

For the general election, both optical-scan ballots and touch screens will be used.

From One Stroger to the Next: Will Tony Peraica End the Stroger Reign for Cook County Board President?

With the election right around the corner, Illinois is home to not only two of the hottest races for U.S. House of Representatives seats, a phenomenally close gubernatorial race, but also Cook County’s very own race for Board President.

Voters tend to focus on the high profile races, like the race in the sixth congressional district between Peter Roskam (R) and Tammy Duckworth (D) for a vacant seat in the House. The Cook County Board President race has been lurking in the shadows since the primary election held in March 2006, though it has been gaining more publicity.

Earlier this year, Forrest Claypool ran against incumbent John Stroger for the seat. Polls tipped in his favor a few weeks before the election, but the votes cast on Election Day named Stroger the winner. Interestingly enough, John Stroger suffered a stroke around election time. With his son Todd Stroger as his spokesperson, John Stroger announced that he would continue his job as Cook County Board President, though he made no public appearances.

On June 30, Todd Stroger delivered his father’s resignation and announced the news to the media. The Democrats, faced with a vacant seat, looked within their own party and a few weeks later, nominated Todd Stroger as the replacement candidate for his father with Tony Peraica as the Republican candidate.


Todd Stroger

Stroger is currently the Alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago and is running for the vacant seat of Cook County Board President. After the Democratic Party’s backing, Stroger has started campaigning heavily, though his position in the race has been controversial.

Stroger’s platform includes: improvement and preservation of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, improvement and addition of new programs to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and the appointment of an Independent Inspector General to manage and investigate misconduct, fraud etc by Cook County government.

His long list of endorsements includes U.S. Senators (Sen. Obama and Sen. Durbin), Mayor Richard Daley, and interim Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele. In addition he has endorsements from Representative Rush, Jackson Jr. Lipinksi, Emanuel, and Schakowsky.


Tony Peraica

Peraica is the Republican candidate and currently holds one of the seats in the 16th District Cook County Board of Commissioners. An attorney by profession, Peraica has done nearly the impossible in local politics; he has made the race a hotly contested one. Cook County and Chicago politics have made the area an overwhelmingly Democratic one.

Peraica’s platform includes: improvement of the county’s budget with a vow to halt tax increases, new economic development programs that would target impoverished communities, plans to improve the Forest Preserves District in Cook County, “trimming the budget, privatizing key functions, eliminating duplicative and wasteful inefficiencies and creating a comprehensive and county wide health care delivery network”.

Peraica’s endorsements include The Chicago Tribune, The Gazette Newspapers, and many local elected officials. It is unclear whether the Democrats who where rooting for Claypool will now contribute their energy to bringing Tony Peraica as Cook County Board president.

Conclusion

The race has clearly become a heated one where polls change frequently, with one candidate taking the lead one day only to have the other be ahead in the polls the next day. Oddly enough, tough the Democrats carry the City of Chicago and most of Cook County; Peraica has taken the lead in many communities where former Claypool supporters or disenfranchised voters are saying that they want to rid the city of nepotism.

One of Stroger’s biggest challenges this election is to ward off accusations of his “inheritance” of the seat. Voters are increasingly unhappy with the unofficial but widely held practice of “handing over the seat” to family members for city offices. If Stroger can survive those types of voters, he has the advantage of name recognition over that of Peraica, essentially a newcomer into the “big leagues” of politics.

Periaca may get support from former Claypool supporters but Stroger has name recognition. Which one will win?

Only voters can decide on Election Day.

*CAIR-Chicago is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse any candidates*

CAIR-CHICAGO PUBLISHES ITS VOTER EDUCATION GUIDE FOR THE 2006 ELECTION

CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Department has been working diligently over the summer on a major voter education project. Former Voter Education Project Intern George Tobin and current Policy Research Intern Erin Hartnett, took the lead by heading one of the many electoral activities undertaken by the department this year.

The CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 highlights races throughout Illinois, from the hotly contested gubernatorial race between Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) and State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka (R) to the vacant seat in the Sixth Congressional District with Tammy Duckworth (D) and State Senator Peter Roskam (R).

Voters need information on candidates in their districts so that when they go to the polls, they are able to make educated decisions to better serve their needs.

The aim of the Voter Education Guide is to provide constituents with information on all candidates running in state and congressional races, from the voting records of incumbents to their answers to a CAIR-Chicago produced questionnaire that candidates received. In addition, the guide includes contact information for all candidates, and procedure for first time voters as well as voters who have mastered the process.

Along with the Voter Education Project, CAIR-Chicago has been actively working to register people to vote since July. The New Americans Democracy Project (NADP), an electoral project geared toward increasing voter turnout at the polls in November 2006 is a joint effort of CAIR-Chicago and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) which has produced over 1,000 new Muslim voters in the southwest suburbs.

Haady Taslim, full-time organizing fellow for the NADP has been working with a group of volunteers to register eligible Muslim citizens to vote in the upcoming election. With over 1,000 people registered, the deadline for voter registration has passed and the campaign has shifted gears. A comprehensive "Get Out the Vote" campaign is in the works with door knocking, phone banking, poll watching and organized mobilization to the polls.

Copies of the CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 will be made available a few weeks before the Election. For more information on the Voter Education Project, political mobilization activities, or elections in general please contact the Governmental Relations Coordinator, Sadiya Ahmed, at gov.relations@cairchicago.org

*CAIR-Chicago does not endorse campaigns or candidates* copyright © 2006, cairchicago.org

CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006:
http://www.cairchicago.org/doc/voter_education_guide_nov2006.pdf

CAIR-Chicago Publishes Its Voter Education Guide for the 2006 Election

The CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Department has been working diligently over the summer on a major voter education project. Former Voter Education Project Intern George Tobin and current Policy Research Intern Erin Hartnett have taken the lead in heading one of the many electoral activities the department has undertaken this year.

The CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 highlights races throughout Illinois, from the hotly contested state gubernatorial race between Governor Blagojevich (D) and Judy Barr Topinka (R) to the vacant seat in the sixth congressional district with Tammy Duckworth (D) and Peter Roskam (R).

Voters need information on the candidates in their districts so that when they do go to the polls, they are able to make decisions based on the information they have. The voter education guide is geared toward providing constituents with information on all candidates running in state and congressional races, from voting records of incumbent candidates to answers to a CAIR-Chicago produced questionnaire that candidates were asked to answer. In addition, it includes contact information for all candidates and best practices for first time voters as well as voters who have mastered the process.

Along the voter education project, CAIR-Chicago has been actively working to register people to vote since July. The New Americans Democracy Project NADP), an electoral project geared toward increasing voter turnout at the polls in November 2006, through which CAIR-Chicago and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) have been working together, has produced over 1,000 Muslim voters in the southwest suburbs.

Haady Taslim, full time organizing fellow for the NADP has been working with a group of volunteers to register eligible Muslim citizens to vote in the upcoming election. With over 1,000 people registered and the deadline to register to vote on October 9, the campaign has shifted gears. A comprehensive Get Out the Vote campaign is in the works with door knocking, phone banking, poll watching and organized mobilization to the polls.

Copies of the CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 will be made available a few weeks before the elections. For more information on the Voter Education Project, political mobilization activities, or elections in general, please contact Governmental Relations Coordinator Sadiya Ahmed at gov.relations@cairchicago.org

*CAIR-Chicago does not endorse campaigns or candidates*

Damage Assessment

Illinois’ own Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-14) announced today in a Batavia press conference that although he is accepting responsibility for former Representative Mark Foley’s behavior, he will not be resigning.

He also continued to deny knowledge of Foley’s inappropriate contact with the young pages, dismissing claims made yesterday by Representative Tom Reynolds (chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee) and Foley’s former aide Kirk Fordham (whom resigned yesterday) that the behavior was reported to Hastert in 2003.

Expected to testify before the House Ethics Committee today are Fordham (Foley’s former Chief of Staff), Hastert’s Chief of Staff Scott Palmer, and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.

With an eye to the upcoming election, many Republican leaders have begun to distance themselves from Hastert and Foley, joining the call for the Speaker’s resignation in hopes to reverse the damage done to the GOP’s image.
Is the damage already done?

Turning Blue?

The effects of last Friday’s resignation by U.S. Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) over inappropriate emails he sent to teenage male congressional pages reverberated through not only Capitol Hill but congressional campaigns nationwide.

Looking to take back the House (they need 15 seats for a majority), many Democratic candidates have publicly asked their Republican opponents to join them in a call for Speaker of the House Dennis J. Hastert’s resignation. Hastert was allegedly told about the emails last year, yet failed to investigate the complaint.

The scandal had yet another Illinois connection—a number of people have also called for the resignation Representative John M. Shimkus (IL-19), chairman of the House panel that oversees the page program.

With just 5 weeks left until the election, Democratic candidates have used the scandal as an opportunity to undermine the values-focused campaign strategy of the Republican Party, putting the GOP members on the defensive. Many have openly denounced Foley and/or returned his campaign contributions, along with canceling major fundraising events this week.

Will this new development be enough to turn 15 seats blue?

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

It is indeed a clash as Governor Rod Blagojevich and Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka got into a heated debate of sorts, as both individuals compete for the Governor's mansion.

As the debate progressed, attacks got personal with Blagojevich accusing Topinka of being 'asleep at the switch'. Topinka did not back down though; she had a little of her own to say and show. She had college students outside of the radio station dress up like $1500 checks, alluding to a check that Blagojevich's daughter received as a an alleged birthday present from a friend following days after the friend's wife was given a job with the State of Illinois.

How low can y ou go in these debates? Just look at Blagojevich and Topinka!

A clash over conduct

Blagojevich, Topinka debate who deserves the public's trust
By Rick Pearson and John ChaseT
ribune staff reporters
Published October 3, 2006

DECATUR, Ill. -- Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka questioned each other's ethical credentials Monday night in a debate reflecting a campaign increasingly focused on the issue of who can gain voters' trust.Topinka contended candidates across the Nov. 7 ballot were facing public cynicism as a result of the actions of Blagojevich and his predecessor, disgraced former Republican Gov. George Ryan.

Blagojevich defended his administration's record on ethics by creating an investigative inspector general, and he labeled Topinka "Gov. Ryan's treasurer" for not standing up to her fellow Republican during his scandal-tarred tenure as governor.

Topinka again contended Blagojevich is the unnamed "Public Official A" cited in a plea agreement involving allegations of corruption related to the state's teacher retirement board, something the governor has denied.

"If she wants to talk about Public Official A, it's Treasurer Topinka. She was absent when George Ryan did all of those things, didn't say a word, never lifted a finger, was asleep at the switch," Blagojevich said.

"You have the most investigated administration in the history of the state of Illinois, bar none," Topinka responded. Noting Blagojevich's 4-year-old campaign promises to clean up government, she said, "I don't know that you've really done what you promised, and you did promise.

"Meeting face-to-face for nearly an hour in a statewide radio debate sponsored by the Illinois Radio Network and broadcast from Millikin University, Blagojevich and Topinka spent the first 10 minutes trying to link the other to Ryan, who was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison last month on federal corruption charges.

Blagojevich has sought to tie Topinka, the three-term state treasurer, to an old-guard Republican establishment that embraced Ryan's candidacy for governor eight years ago. Topinka has contended that myriad federal and state investigations into hiring, contracting and fundraising under Blagojevich threaten a repeat of Ryan's scandal-tarred tenure.

"You have to remember how bad things were four years ago--Gov. Ryan was our governor. It's pretty obvious all of the things that happened to him," Blagojevich said. "Four years later, I think we're a much better place, largely because we passed landmark ethics legislation at the end of my first year as governor."

But Topinka called Blagojevich's actions as governor "disgraceful" and said he has done little to fix corruption.

The two major candidates for governor also disagreed on issues ranging from the state's questionable fiscal health to how to improve education and health care.

In a rare moment of agreement, both Blagojevich and Topinka said they felt the General Assembly should have a special session to freeze a planned hike in electricity rates that's supposed to increase electric bills by more than 20 percent in Chicago and 50 percent Downstate.

Both made their statements on the same day Speaker Michael Madigan wrote a public letter to Blagojevich asking for his support in calling a special session.

A third candidate on the Nov. 7 ballot, Green Party contender Richard Whitney, was not invited to participate in the debate. The Carbondale attorney joined a few dozen supporters outside the debate site to protest his exclusion. "I have better ideas than they do," Whitney said prior to the debate.

But the focus was on Blagojevich and Topinka, who participated in what may be the only pre-election debate in a Downstate region where Blagojevich has faced heavy criticism for being too Chicago-centric.

Republicans seeking a local state House seat have attempted to seize on Blagojevich's apparent unpopularity. In a TV ad attacking local state Rep. Bob Flider (D-Mt. Zion), a huge rubber stamp flies onto the screen and declares in bold red letters, "I'm with Rod.

"The stakes in the debate were vastly higher for Topinka than for the first-term Blagojevich. Trailing the incumbent in public opinion polls and in fundraising, Topinka needed the free publicity to mount attacks on Blagojevich and to demonstrate that she has the gravitas to be governor.

The debate marked a re-emergence of sorts for Blagojevich, who has sharply limited his public personal appearances in recent weeks following the Tribune's report that a longtime friend wrote one of his children a $1,500 check in the days after the friend's wife got a state job. The friend said it was a birthday check written in 2003 to then 7-year-old Amy Blagojevich. The FBI is investigating the circumstances surrounding the check.

Topinka's campaign recruited some local college students to dress in clown garb and stand outside the Shilling Hall auditorium. Toting mock-ups of $1,500 checks, the students shouted, "Hooray for birthdays." Topinka's campaign also debuted a TV ad Monday night showing Blagojevich stumbling in his response to a reporter's question about whether he had ever given a check that size to a child.

But in the debate, Topinka stumbled in her criticism of Blagojevich's explanation of the check, saying the amount was "$15,000" instead of $1,500. "All I ask is that you clear this up," she said.Blagojevich countered that despite Topinka's insistence that she has not granted no-bid contracts during her tenure as treasurer, his campaign's review of state records found that she issued more than 300 contracts not submitted for bids. Topinka, interrupted him, insisting, "That's not true."

Blagojevich has counted heavily upon a barrage of television advertising critical of Topinka to carry his message to voters--along with a regular sprinkling of news releases announcing the awarding of grants and new programs.

The advertising has taken its toll on Topinka. A Tribune/WGN-TV poll conducted last month showed more voters had an unfavorable view of the three-term Republican state treasurer than considered her favorably.

The poll, taken in the days after Ryan's sentencing on federal corruption charges, suggested that voters believe Blagojevich has not lived up to his promises to combat corruption and doubt that Topinka would do better.

A second debate between Blagojevich and Topinka is scheduled for Oct. 26, to be broadcast by WTTW-Ch. 11.

Opportunity to Volunteer for Electoral Activities with CAIR-Chicago

Election Day is November 7, 2006 and CAIR-Chicago is in the middle of lots of electoral work! A fully-fledged, non-partisan campaign has included: outreach to the Muslim youth, outreach to the Muslim community in the Bridgeview area, daily voter registrations, and training sessions for volunteers.

We are now in the Get Out the Vote part of the campaign and are seeking volunteers for the next 5 weeks!

20 volunteers are needed to commit 4-5 hours a week to do door knocking and phone banking in Bridgeview, before Election Day.

On Election Day:

8 volunteers with cars are needed to commit 6 hours each to drive registered voters to polling locations

14 poll watchers are needed for 6 hour shifts to monitor polling locations for instances of discrimination

20 volunteers are needed to do door-to-door canvassing and phone banking

This is a great opportunity to get involved in grassroots politics and fulfill your civic duty.

If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Haady Taslim at htaslim@gmail.com or CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Coordinator Sadiya Ahmed at gov.relations@cairchicago.org or at 312-212-1520