Arab Americans supported Obama in elections

An election poll revealed Arab Americans supported newly re-elected Barack Obama in the elections. The Arab American Institute said more than 1.9 million Americans are of Arab descent in the US. Most of them reside in metropolitan cities namely New York, Los Angeles and Michigan. It has been reported that the majority of Arab-Americans were favouring Obama’s administration over Republican candidate Mitt Romney to win the 2012 elections. In an election poll by Zogby International Surveys, Arab Americans were found to lean twice as much towards the liberal party. The Arab American Institute launched a campaign called Yalla Vote to encourage Arab Americans to vote during the 2012 US elections. Arab-Americans supporting Obama say he was elected when former president George W. Bush had wrecked what was left of the strong America and left it in chaos, sources said. The poll showed that Obama led 52 percent as apposed to Mitt Romney's 28 percent. Safa Rifka, chairman of the American-Arab-Anti-Discrimination Committee, a civil rights oraganisation based in Washington said Arab Americans hoped to send a message this election: that this community cannot be ignored. Rifka said in 2004 Democratic candidate John Kerry would not meet with Arab-American groups during the campaign barely lost in Ohio and that may have cost him a state where Arab-Americans are a key constituency. “I would challenge anyone who says Arab-Americans can’t impact the results in this election – because they can and they have,” said Rifka. Barack Obama was re-elected as the US president on Tuesday, winning 303 votes more than the 270 majority required for victory.