Inside the Beltway

Muslim politics

On the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations has released a poll that, among other things, reflects American Muslim political views.

Suffice it to say the majority aren’t in George W. Bush’s camp.

Only 2 percent said they would vote for President Bush. One in 10 Muslim respondents say they support the president’s Iraq policy.

Asked which 2004 presidential candidate would get their vote, American Muslims (a large majority of whom vote in presidential elections) from 41 states favor former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (26 percent), followed by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio (11 percent), Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (7 percent) and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois (6 percent).

When asked to name the political party that best represents the interests of the American Muslim community, far more respondents named the Democratic Party (27 percent) and Green Party (25 percent) than the Republican Party (3 percent).

As for the television news outlet that most fairly provides coverage of Islam and Muslims, taxpayer-supported PBS topped the list. The Fox News Channel exhibits the most biased coverage, according to those polled.

Mission accomplished

The longtime dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph S. Nye Jr., says he will step down from his faculty post next June.

“It was the aftermath of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City that led me to accept the role of dean of the Kennedy School of Government,” Mr. Nye says. “I was worried about what was happening to public life in our country.

“Since then, this school has trained thousands of public leaders and created knowledge that helped to improve public policies. It is a decision I have never regretted.”

Prohibition mission

John Doyle, executive director of the American Beverage Institute, is charging that a National Academy of Sciences panel that was supposed to advise Congress how to prevent underage drinking instead advanced the agenda of the neo-prohibitionist movement.

The panel’s recommendations include a call for increased taxes on alcohol sales — a proposal designed to reduce consumption by all individuals, not just those who are underage.

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