Obama Steers Clear of Michigan Muslims He May Need to Win State

[Purveyor]

Heidi Przybyla Wed Jul 16, 12:01 AM ET

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- The cover of this week's New Yorker magazine may explain why Barack Obama isn't reaching out to Michigan's Muslims.

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Muslim- and Arab-Americans represent 4 percent of the vote in Michigan, a battleground in this year's election. Yet Obama, who has held 13 events in the state during the presidential campaign, hasn't visited a mosque or met with Muslim leaders.

Bill Ballenger, editor of the nonpartisan newsletter Inside Michigan Politics, said Obama, 46, has to strike a delicate balance. The Illinois senator ``doesn't have to pander'' to such voters, who are likely to back him anyway, though he can ill- afford to ``dismiss them in an arrogant fashion.''

While Obama is leading in Michigan polls, some politicians said it would be a mistake for him not to actively court the state's Muslim voters, who went for Democrat John Kerry four years ago and Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

`Peril' for Democrats

The Democrats ``do this at their own peril,'' said David Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is advising Obama.

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, complained that Obama's arms-length approach demonstrates that he views Muslims as ``a liability.''

Many Muslims who once leaned Republican have been turned off by the Iraq war and the law-enforcement scrutiny of their community put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks. Nationally, only 8 percent of Muslims identify themselves as Republican, compared with 49 percent who say they are Democrats, according to the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. In 2006, the percentage was 17 percent Republican to 42 percent Democratic.

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BLOOMBERG: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080716/pl_bloomberg/aercm5vov0ja;_ylt=AhCMsX8D5fyYKMukq064vNSs0NUE