Bush gets a boost on eve of debate

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

St. LOUIS (U.S.), OCT. 16. On the eve of the final Presidential debate here, the Texas Governor, Mr. George Bush has got some good news.

First, after months of trailing the Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore in the critical mid-western State of Michigan, the nominee of the Grand Old Party has pulled alongside, perhaps even taking a small lead.

And the second news is equally important. The politically influential Arab-American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) of the Detroit Metro area has endorsed Mr. Bush for the Presidential election.

This is seen in many quarters as significant in a State where the race is a dead heat.

Most members of the Committee said the decision to throw their weight behind the Texas Governor was on account of politics and not ethnicity.

But some wonder whether the background of the Democratic Vice- Presidential running mate, Mr. Joseph Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, might have been a factor.

The publisher of the Arab-American News in Dearborn has been quoted in The Detroit Free Press as saying, ``Lieberman's culture and religion are embedded.

Lieberman is already committed in his soul to Israel.'' But by and large, the community has been discounting the Jewish factor, arguing that it has supported Jews in the past, for example, the Democratic Senator Carl Levin.

What is significant for the Bush campaign is that the powerful political voice of the Arab-American community has endorsed the Texas Governor, when in the past it had thrown its weight behind Democratic candidates.

The Political Action Committee is a strong voice among the 350,000 Arab-Americans living in the Detroit Metropolitan area.

The community accounts for about four per cent of the vote and Michigan has 18 electoral votes up for grabs on November 7.

Pollsters have told the Detroit Free Press that the endorsement of the AAPAC could be crucial in the Presidential race as Michigan is considered as one of a handful of States that a candidate needs to win to get to the White House.

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Section  : International
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