American Muslims overwhelmingly support Obama: Poll

68 of respondents in survey of registered Muslim voters said they will vote for Obama.

American Muslims overwhelmingly support President Barack Obama in his re-election bid,according to a new poll.

Sixty-eight per cent of the respondents said they will vote to re-elect Obama,while only seven per cent said they will vote for his Republican rival Mitt Romney,the poll released by Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The poll,conducted by an independent research firm on behalf of the Washington-based CAIR,also indicates that 91 per cent of registered Muslim voters will go to the polls on November 6.

The random survey of 500 registered Muslim voters,conducted in the first two weeks of October,has a margin of error of five percent.

The survey also indicated that 25 per cent of American Muslim registered voters are still undecided about whom to vote for in this November8217;s presidential election.

8220;These results indicate that a large percentage of American Muslim voters are still open to appeals from presidential candidates and that American Muslims are potentially in a position to decide this year8217;s election,8221; said CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad.

According to the survey,the top five issues of importance to American Muslim voters are jobs and the economy,education,health care policy,Medicare and Social Security,and civil rights.

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As many as 55 per cent of Muslim voters consider themselves moderate and 26 per cent liberal,while 16 per cent consider themselves conservative,it said.

The percentage of those who said they are closer to the Democratic Party grew from 49 per cent in a similar poll taken in 2008 to 66 per cent today.

Affiliation with the Republican Party remained nearly the same,with a 1 percent increase from eight percent in 2008 to nine percent today.

Forty nine per cent of respondents said that the Democratic Party was friendly towards Muslims,while 12 per cent said that the Republican Party was friendly.

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Conversely,51 per cent of respondents said that the Republican Party was unfriendly towards Muslims,while six per cent said the Democratic Party was unfriendly.

A little over one-third 35 per cent of respondents say they have experienced religious or ethnic profiling or discrimination post-9/11.

The same percentage say that they experienced kind treatment by neighbours or co-workers in that period. Half of those polled attend a mosque at least once a month.

On international issues,68 per cent of respondents say the US should provide support to those fighting for freedom in Syria and 76 percent say the US and NATO made the right decision by intervening in the Libyan revolution.