Muslim-American Voters Abandon Bush

Via LionelEHutz's Diary on Kos
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All snarkiness aside, this completely surprised me. In 2000:

Of the 100, 000 Muslim Americans in Florida, at least 60,000 have voted in this year's election. As estimated in a telephone survey of 350 Muslim Floridians, 91% have voted for Gov. Bush, 8% for Ralph Nader, and 1% for Vice President Al Gore.

At least half of Muslim voters live in I - 4 Corridor, the least committed group of voters in the entire state. In an exclusive exit poll of Florida Muslims, 91% of those polled indicated that they had voted for Geroge W. Bush.

I know most Muslim Americans tend to be conservative socially, but I had assumed they'd be a bit weary of Bush because of his overtly Right-Wing Christian supporters. What's nearly as surprising, however, is that polls indicate that the support he had in 2000 has almost totally evaporated:

Though exit polls showed Muslims supported George W. Bush in large numbers in the 2000 election, this year just 1-in-10 are likely to cast a vote for the president.

A survey of over 500 Arab-Americans by the Arab American Institute and Zogby International revealed the bad news for the Bush camp. The poll was taken in four battleground states – Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida – the East Brunswick, N.J., Home News Tribune reported.

Now I've been generous with my support of President Bush's constant assurances to Muslims worldwide that our actions do not reveal a lack of respect for Islam or its good-hearted, nonviolent followers. And I truly felt that would have bought him more support among American Muslims than it apparently has. According to WND (which is hardly pro-Democrat...and may actually not realize some Americans find this news encouraging), though, the issue that's changed so many minds is Civil Liberties:

Atiya Aftab, a South Brunswick attorney who is on the board of overseers for the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, says she will look at civil-liberty issues when deciding whom to support for president.

"Right now, due to a backlash from Sept. 11 to the Muslim and Arab community, civil liberties is one of the hot-button issues to vote on and the idea that civil liberties are eroding," said Aftab.