Arabs for Bush

[Nancy Bauer/Dennis Perrin]

Had a political chat today with my liquor supplier, John, a Palestinian who
runs a small "party" store (as they call it) here in Ann Arbor. As he was
bagging up my Molson Ice and bottle of Tanqueray (it is Friday night after
all), he asked who I was going to vote for. I said Nader, even though there
is tremendous pressure on me and my wife to vote Gore, since we are in a
"swing state." John had no idea who Nader was. 

"He's running for president?" he asked. 

"Well, yes," I wittily replied. 

"Me, I'm voting Bush." 

I wasn't surprised. After all, polls have shown that Michigan's Arab
population, one of the largest in the nation, is solidly behind W. Why? The
main issue is Palestine, and John feels, as I'm sure many in his community
do, that Bush would be better brokering a peace than Gore/Lieberman. (John
also added that as a small business owner, he feels Bush is better for him.)
Given the Dem ticket's stance on the issue, I can't say that I blame John
all that much. Bush couldn't be much worse; and he doesn't seem as
ideological about Greater Israel as are Al and Joe. 

Now, I'm sure Leo and perhaps a few others would expect me to tell John not
to vote Bush -- especially given that the election is a toss-up here, and
that every vote counts. But I couldn't do it, and I'd certainly not advise
him to go Gore. I mentioned that Nader is Lebanese-American, and this stoked
John's interest. But it was clear, at least in this instance, that the
Michigan Green machine has been rather lax about reaching out to
middle-class Arab Americans. Another problem to fix after Nov. 7.

DP