Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41204-2003Dec6.html
On December 9, 2003 The Washington Post reported on the effects that the "War on Terrorism" is having on political candidates trying to garner Jewish and Arab votes for the upcoming election.The Post reports, "In the last presidential election, Arabs supported the Republican candidate while Jews overwhelmingly backed the Democrat. That was before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Bush's response. Since then, the political moorings of the two communities have come loose... Though they are small in numbers, Arab and Jewish populations are concentrated in several swing states, such as Michigan and Florida. And Jewish donors play a role in many campaigns. Sensing an opening, Democratic presidential contenders have reached out to Arab voters, speaking at an Arab American Institute conference this fall in Detroit... But then, the Democratic National Committee also held an emergency strategy session last year to address reported Republican gains among Jews. Republicans, meanwhile, describe a White House so at ease with Judaism that Jay Lefkowitz, then deputy assistant for domestic policy, blew a three-foot shofar, or ram's horn, at a senior staff meeting during the High Holy Days, drawing laughter and applause from senior strategist Karl Rove. But when asked to invite a Sunni Muslim leader to a White House event supporting the Iraq war, Khaled Saffuri, chairman of the conservative Islamic Free Market Institute, said no one would go."