Knowing More about the American Elections
The U.S. presidential elections are gaining special importance , thanks to America ‘s position on the international political map, being the largest military and economic power in the world . It is, perhaps, the only country that announces its political strategy under the title: “how can we proceed in leading the world.”
The essence of competition among the contestants to get to the White House from both parties reflects this fact that others like to talk about, even in the two American political and media speeches, apart from saying that , this strategy constitutes the permanent subject-matter in the studies and researches centers all over the USA.
There is a unique privacy in the mechanism of the American democracy. It is a way to get the majority of votes in the elections, in what is so-called college elections, when total votes go to the candidate who wins the relative majority for each state.
Perhaps , the strange paradox happens when we see that a US President has won the majority electoral ballots , without getting the majority of votes .This , however, is what had happened with President W. Bush in the pre- last election, not to mention the way the voting mechanism, as the right to vote is limited only to persons registered in electoral lists, in what constitutes only about three-quarters of eligible voters. The other paradox is that the percentage of those who take part in elections effectively, according to statistics conducted by , polling centers , do not exceed, at their best , fifty five percent of those eligible to vote. If we know that the one who wins the elections to the presidency is the one who gets more than half of the votes in the College electoral calculations, it means mathematically that one who gets around seventeen percent of the votes of the total number of voters becomes the President of the USA . In this point, in particular, lies the importance of the Jewish lobby in the USA, where all American Jews and their supporters activate wide public relations campaign in support to this or that candidate, especially that American Jews are concentrated in seven U.S. states, including New York and they make up about two and a half percent of the total electorate, representing a significant proportion compared to what is stated in terms of the percentage of participants and the chances of winning for each candidate. A matter which gives great importance to their votes and influence in the American media and political body. A fact which largely explains the great interest of candidates for the American presidency in appealing to Jews, in general, and the Zionist entity, in particular, in the context of the electoral bazaar, where a political observer of what is happening in the political arena, the so-called maintaining the security of Israel and supporting it, is but the greatest common denominator of all the contenders to get to the White House, whether they are Republicans or Democrats.
Perhaps the question that can be addressed to us as Arabs in the framework of this democratic game is about the role to be played in the Democratic and Political context of these elections. Should we take into account the Arab and Islamic presence in the USA, not to mention the financial investments and economic influence in the American economic, media and institutional joints? Can these forces and components that run regular public relations campaign be able to influence the results of the elections, as to be taken into the political account of candidates for the presidency or other elected democratic institutions. And more precisely, is there a possibility for creating an Arab lobby in America, a country , which considers the forming of lobbies as one of the components of the democratic process that are entitled to legal authorization to operate in public?
No doubt, the answer to that is yes. But, is there an Arab political will incline in this direction. And if the answer is no, would it be possible for the Arab community and cultural institutions, diplomatic and civil society forces and expatriate organizations in America to play such a role? This is a question we address to all of them.
Dr. Khalaf al-Moftah