The Whole World is Watching us

  Assalamu Alaikum

America is the leader of the human civilization today. Therefore, it is not just us Americans who are interested in the elections, rest of the world is also watching and probably praying.

Hundreds of races including dozens of congressional races are tied. That is the time when a small minority like Muslim community with their allies can make a real difference which can be noticed. If we call them and make sure they get to the polls, we'll show the difference we can make.

Please use this weekend for calling around and sending personalized emails.

First call those who are movers and shakers in any community. Then call individuals.

Or you may want to learn the "go out to vote" GOTV techniques so critical in the last minute voters mobilization. You can learn that by participating through www.moveon.org campaigns like: http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=62

or through Republican Party based on your preference: http://www.gop.com/NeighborToNeighbor/Signup.aspx?CampaignId=4

whether you are pushing a candidate or not, you can always help people if you can tell them who is standing from their area and where they might be able to go to vote.

Peace

Abdul Malik Mujahid

p.s. Many people have responded to my emails about research and dedicate this weekend for America by asking that I tell them whom to vote for. Unfortunately, we are a prisoner of IRS rules regarding not for profit entities. We cannot endorse anyone or ask people to vote for certain persons. However, here is the guidelines which I sent earlier on how you can research yourself about whom to vote for.

Prepare now to participate in the November General Election!

How will you make these critical choices as you fulfill your duty as a citizen? Here are some tools that can help:

Start by knowing how many positions you will be voting for. The Chicago Tribune's site is good for this purpose. This is not their endorsement list. That can be found other places. It is just a tool:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/

But if the Chicago Tribune is not a good choice in your book, you can use the same software to decide at

http://www6.vgt2004.org/a-wbbm/

It would be good to have your nine-digit zip code handy. This is the same as your zip plus four more numbers. But if you are like me, you can go here to find the number:

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

Once you have selected your candidates, you may want to print out your choices right from the above website.

For the voting record of an incumbent congressperson on civil rights issues, check out the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) website at:

http://action.aclu.org/site/VoteCenter?page=voteList

Judge races are very important and we normally don't hear about them.  Here is a rating from the Chicago Council of Lawyers

http://www.chicagocouncil.org/

Here is how Illinois Bar rates them:

http://www.isba.org/judges/2006polls/counties/counties.html

What is good for teachers might be good for you. Here is a list of teachers' choices:

http://www.ift-aft.org/PAC/index.htm

If you're concerned about labor issues, here is what labors have decided:

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/labor2006/IL.cfm or

http://capwiz.com/seiuorg/scorecard/?chamber=H&session=1092&x=8&y=10#IL

CAIR-Chicago recently asked all candidates several questions of concern to the Muslim community. Unfortunately, most did not respond to this Muslim organization's survey. Perhaps you want to reward those who did respond. If so, check out who did at:

http://www.CAIRChicago.org

If campaign finance and interest group ratings are an important factor for you then check out:

http://www.vote-smart.org/

Or maybe you are a party person and want to check out what the parties are talking about. In that case, here are three parties to choose from:

http://www.democrats.org/

http://www.gop.com

http://www.gp.org/

Where to vote :

http://www.elections.state.il.us/ElectionAuthorities/ElecAuthorityList.aspx

Here are some good general election information websites for Greater Chicago:

http://www.elections.state.il.us

http://www.chicagoelections.com/

The main thing is to vote and to take others to vote with you.

Peace

Abdul Malik Mujahid