U.S. Muslims for Kerry

Nick Gillespie | October 20, 2004

A new poll by Zogby and researchers at Georgetown of Muslim Americans' presidential preferences finds the "truest example of a backlash we've seen" according to pollster John Zogby.

The Wash Times summarizes:

The poll found that Muslims solidly support Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president, though they had strongly backed Mr. Bush in the 2000 election.

Because of the USA Patriot Act and concerns over civil liberties, researchers said, 76 percent of Muslims are voting for Mr. Kerry, compared with 7 percent for Mr. Bush. The 2001 survey found that 42 percent of American Muslims voted for Mr. Bush in 2000, and 31 percent voted for Vice President Al Gore.

More than a third of U.S. Muslims believe that the war on terror is really a war on Islam, sez the Times.

Curious tidbit:

The self-reports on voting in 2000 were reversed in the 2004 survey. In the more recent poll, 38 percent of respondents said they had voted for Mr. Gore, and 27 percent said they had voted for Mr. Bush.

Times story here.

Full poll results (in pdf) here.