Tightrope walk for Bush, Gore

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 15. The recent violence in West Asia and the terrorist attack on the American warship in Yemen present problems to both the Republican and Democratic candidates.

Although on the face of it, both the Texas Governor, Mr. George Bush and the Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore have called for a scaling down of the violence in West Asia and condemned the attack on the USS Cole, the political realities are not all that simple.

This is election time and the Jewish vote counts a lot, not just to the Presidential candidates but to the First Lady, Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton running for Senate from the State of New York. Therefore, identifying oneself as a staunch ally of the Jewish State of Israel does have its electoral advantages. Which is what Mr. Bush, Mr. Gore, Ms. Clinton and her opponent in New York, Mr. Rick Lazio have done. But they have to be careful in their condemnation also. The Arab-American community - which has thrown its weight behind the Democrats in the past - is a little unhappy with Mr. Gore after the second Presidential debate in North Carolina. Arab-Americans feel that a Gore administration will be aligned with one of the parties in West Asia to the exclusion of others. And that is a ``matter of concern'', the community feels.

About 350,000 of Arab-Americans live in Michigan, accounting for about four per cent of the vote. The largest concentration of Arab-Americans is in the Detroit area and more than 70 per cent are registered voters. Michigan is a must-win State in the mid- West. It is still up for grabs with 18 electoral college votes. The Arab-American community, analysts say, has not publicly raised concern about the presence of Mr. Joseph Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, on the Democratic ticket but there is the apprehension that he might sway the Gore administration closer towards Israel.

Mr. Gore would benefit saying nice things about Israel and at the same time, try not to raise the hackles of the Arab American community. Politically, this would then bring up the criticism in some quarters that the Vice-President, being a politician, will say anything to get a vote. A similar charge has been hurled at the First Lady, especially as she tried to win over different communities in New York, the city in particular.

The sudden coming to the fore of foreign policy issues does have other implications as well. For the most part, this election is going to be decided on domestic issues not on how the U. S. and the Clinton administration are going to respond to the attack on the USS Cole. That being the case, the candidates are getting their attentions diverted and for Mr.Gore it is also having to re-work the campaign schedule. Twice in the last two days, Mr. Gore has come back to Washington to get security briefings from senior administration officials, including the Secretary of State and the National Security Adviser. Mr. Gore also had a 30-minute meeting with the President, Mr. Bill Clinton. The diversions aside, there is a positive angle to Mr. Gore being in Washington as it showcases his experience in foreign policy. ``This is not about politics, it's about peace in the Middle East,'' said a spokesman of the Gore campaign.

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Section  : International
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