One Harry G. Levine published an article in the Village Voice entitled, of all things, "Ralph Nader, Suicide Bomber" (May 3, 2004), knowing that Nader is an Arab American. In the article, Levine compares Nader's presidential campaign to suicide bombing: "my progressive hero had turned suicide bomber -- that Ralph Nader had strapped political dynamite onto himself and walked into one of the closest elections in American history hoping to blow it up" (May 3, 2004). Now, is it smart for supporters of John Kerry to use such an analogy? Is that a vote winner? Or does Levine think that no Arab or Muslim American reads the Village Voice? Seriously, if the Kerry campaign wants to send a coded message to Arab and Muslim Americans that Kerry does not want Arab and Muslim votes, I can't think of any better way than comparing an Arab American candidate to a suicide bomber.
In the past, Democratic Party candidates often insulted and rejected Arab and Muslim voters outright: "In 1984, for instance, Democrat Walter Mondale returned checks from Arab-American donors. Four years later, Democrat Michael Dukakis refused the endorsement of an Arab-American group" (John Hassell, " Arab-Americans may be a swing vote this year," Salt Lake Tribune, May 1, 2004). But do Kerry supporters remember that both Mondale and Dukakis -- to whom Kerry is often compared (e.g., "So far, the Kerry campaign has all the forward momentum of a Dukakis tank ride") -- lost? . . .
The rest of the posting is at <http://montages.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_montages_archive.html#108379429079683378>. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>
