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Podcast of Multimedia
iTunes ChannelLive Debate: Muslims for McCain vs Muslims for Obama – TODAY (Thursday) @ 10 PM EST
by Nadim
*Pls DIGG here to reach maximum people, Muslims & non-Muslims alike*
*Pls join Facebook Event for this Debate*
Did you think the 2008 Presidential race was all over? Did you think that all Muslim voters were going to cast their vote for Obama? Not true. In fact, there are Muslims who support McCain, and they have their arguments for doing so.
Here is a unique opportunity to hear from both sides, talking ISSUES, not EMOTIONS!
Join us in a live debate featuring Obama supporter Zeba Khan, Founder and Director of Muslims for Obama, and McCain supporter, Mohamed Elibiary, President and Chief Executive of the Freedom and Justice Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Dallas, and one of MM’s specialist.
When?
Thursday, Oct 30th 2008 @ 10 PM EST
How does it work?
The debate will take place on MuslimMatters.org. Format will be chat-box.
Can the audience ask questions?
You can ask questions by placing them as comments on this post (preferred) or e-mailing them to live@muslimmatters.org (deadline for questions: Oct. 29th midnight PST). Only topic-related “respectful” questions for Mohamed or Zeba or the moderator, or other comments about debate format, etc. are permitted in this post. Other tangents (such as permissibility of voting, personal attacks, the need for the debate itself, etc.) will be removed without notice. In other words, the comments are specifically to engage in the debate, not to question it. The best questions will be chosen at moderator’s discretion to be asked of the debaters.
More info:
Muslim Republicans And The GOP (feat. br Mohamed Elbiary)
Bipartisan Islamophobia Frustrates Muslim Voters (feat. sr. Zeba Khan)
Quick Biography:
Mohamed Elibiary
- President & CEO The Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J)
- Fellow at the USC-Georgetown University American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI)
- Contributing Expert on Religion, Culture and Politics to the Dallas Morning News Weekly Texas Faith Blog
- Executive Board Member of Texas Impact
- Vice-President of FBI-Dallas Citizens Academy Alumni Association
- Shura (Board) Member of the North Texas Islamic Council (NTIC)
Zeba Khan
- Founder and Director of Muslim-Americans for Obama (MAFO)
- Strategic Initiatives Director at the List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, a nonprofit that aims to help U.S.-affiliated Iraqis successfully resettle to the U.S
- M.A. in Development Economics and Conflict Resolution from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
- M.A./B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago
As a non-profit corporation, MuslimMatters.org does not endorse any political candidate.
© MuslimMatters.org by Associates on October 26th, 2008. All rights reserved. Please see legal & other disclaimers here.
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MM taking it to the next level, mashaAllah. Somehow, I having the feeling that all the difficult questions will be directed towards Mohamed Elibiary.
Great idea Nadim… may we all learn and grow in political maturity with such efforts.
Question for Zeba:
Why should Muslim feel any better about Obama in terms of foreign policy, esp. with his hawkish comments on Pakistan? What do we know of his foreign policy advisers, or potential cabinet secretaries that gives us some hope for REAL change?
Question for Mohamed:
Even though we are not voting for the VP, the VP is still a heart-beat away from the Presidency, and being that McCain has skipped a heart-beat or two in the past, Palin could become the President if McCain wins. That is a scary thought, not only for Muslims, but especially for Muslims. She has openly discussed the Iraq war as a holy war, and her views are more extremist and religiously hard-line than even Bush. How do you get past this, even if we are to assume that McCain will somehow break from Bush in policies?
Questions for Zeba:
1. Barack Obama: Great Candidate, or greatest candidate ever?
Question for Mohamed:
1. Sarah Palin … seriously?
Too bad there is no one representing the “NO VOTE” position, that would make it much more interesting.
Ok, I just read the conditions for commenting in this post:
My question:
How can I hold the candidates responsible for their policies, How do I know your candidate cares enough about the Muslims that they won’t do a 180 and change their political views once they get elected (as seen in previous elections)
Question/Suggestion to Mohamed Elibiary. Brother when making your case for McCain, can you provide hard/tangible evidences or references to support him rather than claiming inside knowledge of what he is going to do. I mean kindly understand it is not easy to just take your word for it.
Questions for Zeba:
1. What is Obama’s position on Federal reserve?
2. Why did he vote for 700 billion (now 1 trillion dollar) to give to richest while he claims that he is person for middle class?
3. In voting for 700 billion “rescue package” he gave so much control to treasury secretary Henry Paulson.Is it sign how would his administration look like, with enhanced power and control of executive branch and to an unelected official?
4. How does he or his economic team plan to control inflation? Would he let federal reserve continue printing money?
5. What steps/plan he has laid to tackle trade deficit?
6. Is NASA going to be funded more/less/same as before?
7. What is his position on recent FLDS children kidnapping by Texas State? Does he approve of it?
8. Is he going to do anything about the treatment muslims, specially scholars get at the airports?
9. What is his take on REAL ID? Would it implement it?
To the brother supporting McCain, strictly as a muslim alone how does your heart permit you to support a ticket with Sarah Palin on it? I’m voting for Barrack strictly with the “lesser of two evils” view, how can you honestly say that a ticket with Palin’s extremist views along with her complete lack of any type of respect for anything that isn’t white, super right wing, and hardcore christian is the lesser of two evils? Do you also agree that she has foreign policy experience bc she is so close to Russia? Are you a fan of Sean Hannity, and if not, does it disturb you to see those interviews with McCain and Palin he has been conducting?
-Edited. No personal remarks.
To Mohamed Elibiary:
1- Why? Why man? Why?
Do you want another 4 (or god forbid 8 years) of Bush?
2- His “hands free” economical policy “based on his record” has proven that its disastrous, what do you say about our economic future with him as our president?
3- His Health care plan will cause more profit to the Health Insurance Corp. and more confusion to regular citizen, dont you think so?
4- His policy on the war will make us spend more and more money which will cause us to be in more debt to China?
5- Sarah Pallin? COME ON? I mean what does she know about foreign policy, economy, or simply what does she know about running the country?
6- How can another Republican (given what we saw in the last 8 years) help the Muslims with their internal (domestic) issues?
To Zeba:
1- I am not sure why you say Muslims for Obama if he has gone out of his way to dissociate himself from Muslims. Never endorsed us? Didnt hear him talk about Muslims, their civil rights, never seen him in a Masjid or an Islamic Center (while he visited Jewish Temples and Churches all the way from NY to Fl) and he even didnt want to have a hijabi behind him in one of his appearances… so why “Musilms for Obama”?
2- Not a big fan of distributing the wealth ideology, at least not in extreme … what makes you think ,given Obama’s history with Acorn and others, that he wont turn this country in to a socialist country?
3- Since the MDs in this country get rewarded pretty well, they tend to achieve high results with respect to curing patients (with the well of Allah indeed), dont you think that his heath care plan might lead us to be like other countries who are not as superior as America in medicine?
4- In 2000, Muslims all over the country said we must vote for Bush (I wont be surprised if we had Muslims for Bush back then), what guarantees you that Muslims wont regret such a vote again?
5- Doesnt the fact that his VP talks about how AWESOME is McCain more than Obama worry you at all?
mad props Nadim
awesome topic mashaAllah and thanks to Zeba and Mohamed in advance 
bismillah. why aren’t we better off writing in Musa Maguire?
[this comment not endorsed by Musa Maguire, the Friends of Musa Maguire, nor Musa Maguire for President.]
bismillah. innalhamdolillah. (credit to the original poster of the link to this video, and to sister Naima who vouched for it)
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_s_Pastor_US_Should_Destroy_Islam_2#
the article to which that digg link points is at the Nation. the video in it is simply phenomenal. every Muslim who votes for McCain will only empower a preacher of evil who whispers in his ear.
so, my question to both of you who would ask us to vote for these candidates — how does a vote for McCain not translate into the empowerment of McCain’s preacher’s hate for Islam? when McCain is looking for someone to soothe his conscience, he will likely turn for spiritual solace to evil men like the preacher in the video. how will you explain your vote then to the Muslims who are destroyed by the advice the preacher will give?
and likewise how do we know what advice Obama listens to from his spiritual guides? we know his white relatives used to say “non-PC” things about black people. what about the things they said about Muslims? how sympathetic is he to such sentiments? is our only hope that Obama will not be as likely to listen to an evil preacher like McCain’s that he is NOT McCain, and NOT Palin? do we have any proof?
After hearing that Barack Obama is willing to negotiate with the Taliban, how can you still vote for McCain?
-Edited. No personal remarks.
On Foreign Policy Affecting Muslims:
McCain and Palin have expressed a desire to stay in Iraq for “as long as it takes” and Obama has a expressed a desire to impose a timeline on the Iraq war but to shift our focus to Pakistan and take a more aggressive stance toward Pakistan (who, according to him, may be harboring al Qaeda operatives in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border).
Questions:
1. Which position is more dangerous for the global Muslim ummah?
2. Why do you support your cadidate’s respective position in this case? If you don’t personally support it, why do you think your candidate’s position is at least the better of the two?
Question to McCain Muslims:
How do we support McCain knowing that he will kill many innocent Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan?
(Let’s try not to deny civilian casualties won’t happen).
Question to Obama Muslims:
Why should we vote for Obama when he is wanting to go into Muslim lands and kill people whether it’s Afghanistan or Pakistan?
Please don’t give typical answers. Really think about what it means to support a candidate and how supporting their actions will affect you.
Question to both:
What should we expect from your campaign in dealing with the Israel/Palestinian issue?
As Obama said, will Jerusaleum always be apart of Israel?
And as McCain/Palin continually say, will we support Israel and always give them the benefit of the doubt?
Bismilah Wa Salat Wa Salam Ala Rasulilah
Firstly, it us unrealistic to expect any candidate to take a hardline israeli policy and get elected for president. So the issue present is not what is their position towards Israel but rather what is there position on Gun Boat Diplomacy and forcing democracy in the middle east.
Secondly, we are aware that Mr. Mc Cain is in favor of a 5000 dollar “tax break”; but why was it not mentioned that people that are obtaining health insurance through an employer will lose it and have to pay out of pocket with those 5,000. This shows his favor for the big corporations and agencies. This is due to the fact that they will no longer carry the “burden” of providing insurance for their employees.
I think the only muslims that would vote for Mc Cain are the upperclass. Not the working class muslims who are trying hard just to get buy. Obama is talking about taxing the big companies; not the little guy.
Wallahu Alim
bismillah. make dua for the people of Filisteen, and have the courage to ask these supporters which candidate would do less harm to the filisteeni.
why will Obama’s over the top “i ain’t no muhammadin, massah aipac” speech not translate into 8 years of marching to the orders of tel aviv/israeli-jerusalem?
is there any reason to believe McCain for whatever reason may impose Reaganesque pressure on Israel?
granted, no American President in the last 50 years even comes close to stopping Israeli (or other Arab) aggression against the Filistini, including refugees. but some are less unjust than others. personally, i have lower expectations from Obama during a first term.
Salaamu Alaykum,
What a scam. Muslims supporting candidates that are both rotten to the core. Where are the Muslims for Nader, the only candidate running that provides a real alternative, a REAL change.
Fool yourselves with your delusional politics. After all, Saint Obama can do no wrong. The dude favors Nuclear energy, “clean” coal, ramping up that “good” Afghan war, illegal bombing raids into Pakistan, voted to fund the Iraq war, wants to antagonize Iran and is in bed with the Zionists, not to mention that he voted for telecom immunity and supported the bailout, the theft of the century. It’s just Bush all over again with a better image and fancier rhetoric.
As for John “I voted with Bush 90% of the time” McCain we need not say much more.
We never said Obama was a saint. Obama is not Salahudeen and neither is he Dajjal – he is simply the lesser evil. I’ll take him any day over McCain and Palin. A vote that isn’t cast for Obama is simply a vote for McCain.
in light of this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7692153.stm how do you think either candidates will react?
I Accuse Barack & McCain Of Antisemitism Against Arabs by Ralph Nader:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rDFXMWmKTQI
Waliekum Assalam,
I wanted to thank the organizers of this debate for their vision and to let all the brothers and sisters know that I’m reading every comment in order to prepare inshallah as best as I can. For the questions I might not have a ready answer for, I’m reaching out to those who would to hopefully answer as many questions as possible. Thus far with topics covering from health insurance tax deductions to all sorts of foreign policy issues, I’m quite impressed and happy at the degree of sophistication we as Muslims are showing to the online world.
Wasalaam,
Vat do you think about Al Qaeda supporting McCain?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26kristof.html?ex=1382760000&en=b6e87ccc543c6004&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook
Also what do you think about this wideo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fXaJmDbsY
Please study it closely!!
Reminder again yaa ikhwaan (appreciate the questions and comments from all who stuck to the topic):
This is not the thread to post irrelevant youtube videos (esp. yours Dawud, what was that??), or to make pitches for either candidate, or in MOFW case, to diss both. Unfortunately Nader is not relevant at this stage, so let’s stick to the candidates from whom the next President will surely be chosen (if Allah wills). We can’t change reality, we have to live with it.
Also, the debate is not between us, the readers, but between two people who we presume know a bit more about politics than us.
So, please, if you don’t have a question, then there is no need for a comment
P.S. This comment is not intended to be a debating point either
-Edited. Comment moved to Open Thread.
Assalamu Alaikum
What about Muslims for McKinney? McKinney has a long history of being for Muslims. As mentioned by others, Nader is a good choice too.
bismillah.
for the McCain backer, i am a person who cannot imagine myself voting for your team. so, do you want voters like me to vote third party? or stay home?
for the obama-camper, i am a person rapidly losing that warm glow for obama. i think if he is tested at the start of his admin, the hammer will fall on a Muslim, naudhobillah. so would you want a voter like me to vote third party?
To Hamada (if I may again
):
okay okay ..lolol.. i am just kidding.. but yea.. answer the original question please.. thanks
- McCain wants a spending freeze on all programs (except for the seniors and the war) until he balances the budget and see where he can make various cuts, don’t you think that Americans who rely on social programs will suffer … for a long time … from such decision? Do you want poor people to suffer Mohamed? is that what you want? tell me?… look me in the eye and tell me that you want poor people to suffer while the rich get richer? hah? say it?!! hahah
Asalaam Alaikum,
Speaking of third parties, this question goes to both sides, if Muslim voters live in states that are not swing/battleground states… why should we vote for your candidate over a third party candidate whose stances we may agree more with?
A related question also for both sides, generally speaking when voters feel that their choices are a lesser of two evils it seems smarter to me that we would vote in order to establish or preserve a balance of power, i.e. republican president with a democrat house & senate or vice versa.
Given that all the polls show that democrats are staged to make major gains in both the house and senate, I have the same question in differing angles for each side.
For Mohamed, tell us how a McCain administration could be beneficial for the nation from this perspective.
For Zeba, tell us how/if Obama would lead on and respect non-democrat party issues while balancing support from his own party.
Lastly for Zeba, do you see given the Cinderella nature of Obama’s political campaign any lame duck Jimi Cater’ish (too little support from own party and strong opposition from republicans) dangers to an Obama administration?
JazakAlllahu Khairan to you both!
1. Obama People – Barack Obama has pledged to lower taxes on the middle class and raise it on those making $250,000 and above. Will Obama allow the Bush tax cuts to expire (thereby watching them go up without him actually raising taxes), and then lower them, or will the tax cuts cause the middle class to pay even less in taxes than they currently do?
2. McCain People – John McCain, when confronted with questions about economic and energy policy, often doesn’t seem to have the depth of knowledge Obama when making his case, and often resorts to, “We’ll find the best people in their fields, form a team, and ask them what to do.” His campaign thus far, and all its missteps (the glaring error in picking Palin surely can’t be missed from the perspective of bringing in someone to lead from the day they take office, if not from the perspective of revving up the base) don’t seem to demonstrate this, even if he won the primaries. Given this, what convinces you that John McCain is better qualified to lead than Obama?
Siraaj
Obama or McCain?
More questions from me.
Questions for Mohamed:
1. How does McCain plans to reduce the size of government.
2. In one of the debates the issue of vouchers (education) came up, but I could not understand the disagreements between McCain and Obama, although both supported it. Can you elaborate your candidate position.
3. The bailout/rescue package is being mis-used by companies being bailed out. How would McCain stop this.
4. As someone else mentioned, both candidates vote for Telecom industries immunity over listening to people’s phone. Why you think McCain is suitable even after doing such thing.
5. Assuming you an arab, are you a decent family man given McCain does not think you are?
6. Do you think his selection of Palin was right?
7. Is it ok for your candidates for court racist american votes?
8. Do you seriously think there is good chance for McCain winning?
9. What is his position on racial profiling, and spying on people with no valid reason, as FBI plans to do.
10. When do you plan to endorse Barack Obama?
Questions for Zeba:
1. In one of the debates the issue of vouchers (education) came up, but I could not understand the disagreements between McCain and Obama, although both supported it. Can you elaborate your candidate position.
2. The bailout/rescue package is being mis-used by companies being bailed out. How would Obama stop this.
3. As someone else mentioned, both candidates vote for Telecom industries immunity over listening to people’s phone. Why you think Obama is suitable even after doing such thing.
4. Why he stayed at his Church for 20 years listening to Rev Wright? What was he doing there, sleeping? Did he ever approach Wright saying, you are an idiot?
Thanks.
Br. Pro-Obama: Senator Obama while running for senate told the people of Chicago that he would lower their taxes, and he has yet to do that. With little experience, why should Muslim Americans give their vote to Obama? How will he directly benefit us?
Br. Pro-McCain: With all of his foreign policy experience, what does John McCain’s VP pick tell us about his judgement- or lack of? Shouldn’t Muslim Americans consider it troublesome that Governor Palin touts Russia’s proximity to Alaska as her only foreign policy experience? I personally find issue more with Palin as VP than I do with McCain as president.
i think we have a winner:
this is hands down one of the funniest things i have ever seen on MM and i think it will be a travesty if it is not asked during the debate
my question for both:
Taking into account the statements, voting record, and promises made during the campaign, what specifically from the candidate that you support leads you to conclusively believe that he is truly the lesser of 2 evils as far as Muslims in America are concerned?
*Pls join Facebook Event for this Debate*
Question for Zeba:
Would you support an Obama backed invasion of Pakistan as the lesser of two evils?
Under the Constitution of the USA, we have set forth laws that are secular in nature, not of any specific creed or Religion. These Laws are from the Represented Republic, a coalition of all Religions principles in representative majority. Is the Shariah Law needing a path of implementation the reason for Marxism? Do either of you know of the Fair Tax Plan?
bismillah. it might be even funnier if the follow-up question takes its cue from the Daily Show: “…are there people who are neither Arab nor decent family men? [reply -- yes, this was the actual reply] Absolutely, they’re called Italians.”
what would we have to do to get that Asif Mandhvi guy in on this debate? dude… now that would be political commentary…
Question for McCain rep. –
1) **Question removed by editor **
2) Do you understand the philosophical issues relating to “Illegal Occupation” and “Collateral damage” against muslims in Israel, Iraq etc ? Do you agree or disagree with the figures project in the Lancet study? If you agree, how do you reconcile with yourself when palling around with the same party that blatantly “rejected” the figures as misleading and in one case Bush said “I don’t consider it a credible report.”
3) It is a well known fact that republicans have an uncompromising allegiance to “Israel” and have overshadowed “Palestinian/Iraqi/ etc. sovereignty” with “Israel’s security concerns” ? How would you describe our relationship with Israel?
4)Who according to you should be our top 3 allies and Why?
5)Republicans not until recently supported the idea of troop withdrawal under a ” time-line”. Such a position was strongly advanced by Obama’s campaign. Once polls began to show favoring Obama’s position of a “time-line”, the McCain camp changed colors and began to finally consider that position. They literally stole that plan of action and try to improve it by adding words like “responsible”, “conditions” etc. Such words cannot be qualified even today, because there are no real metrics to gauge “success. In your opinion, do you seriously think McCain and the republicans are going to “hold” fast to that position and remove military presence from a sovereign nation.
6) Give me one quote, paraphrased or direct from McCain’s mouth that specifically talks in isolation about “palestanian plight”. or anything positive about “Muslims in America”
7) What are some of the “novel” foreign policy changes on the issue of Israel-Palestine conflict would McCain bring to the table?
8.) Economy : Please describe the taxation policies of McCain as you understand them?
Nothing for OBAMA…I hope you guys win
*Edited. To ask the question if the debater is a Muslim is offensive to say the least. Isn’t the title and the description of what the brother does sufficient? When did being a Republican put your Islam in question? Please think before asking such questions, and put yourself in the other person’s shoes. -Editor
where is this debate supposed to start?? i cant find it anywhere!!
I’m glad there are some Muslims for McCain. I’m actually voting for Obama, but begrudgingly so. If Obama wasn’t against the War, maybe I’d campaign for McCain.
This is going to be EXCITING!
Signs of Muslim political maturity…
Salam,
I’m glad to know muslims are taking a stand to vote but it never crossed my mind that not all muslims will vote for Obama/Biden. but I do understand muslims owning a business and probably making over 250K, so taxation would be an issue for them. But, I can say with certainty, I’m not making nowhere near that, so Obama/Biden has my vote.
- Pull soldiers from Iraq and reinforce troops in Afghanistan.
- Tax cut for middle class
- affordable insurance coverage
- abortion rights
- gun control
- education
and a few more important issues. Inshallah, I hope Obama stick to his plan and move this country in the right direction.
Wasalam,
Obama/Biden 08′
-Edited. Irrelevant comment. Please see clear instructions for type of comments here.
Can someone post the debate chat log please? **
TI, we do plan to post the chat record inshalah.
BUTTT, we need a volunteer to copy and paste the debate lines in one document. Apparently the chat program doesn’t save all the content.
Anyone want to help and make a firm commitment? Very simple to do if u r going to be reading the debate anway.
All of the questions to Mohammed Elibiary can be summarized to this one word: Why!?
Where/when will it start:
“The debate will take place on MuslimMatters.org. Format will be chat-box.”
So it will be live streaming or something?
It will be live chat. And you will see a new post very soon with the embedded chat box
I don’t see the chat box?