One of my favorite politicians we encountered on the road was Representative-elect Keith Ellison from Minneapolis. The man is a true progressive in the spirit of Paul Wellstone and in the hour we watched him interact with a crowd on the issue of environmental justice I came away quite impressed with his honesty, his commitment to his constituents, and his seriousness about what he is trying to do. I was extraordinarily happy to hear his name announced on election night.
Of course, if you’re only following corporate media sources you probably don’t know anything about him other than he is a Muslim, and the first one in Congress at that. Which is enough for some to accuse him of “working with our enemies.” Yes, Glenn Beck is a massive douchebag.
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, hasn’t even taken office yet, but he already appears to be charting his own route in Congress. The Associated Press reports that Ellison skipped a swanky private White House reception for other freshman Congressman hosted by President Bush — and went to a reception for the AFL-CIO instead. “It wasn’t even a close call,” Ellison says. “Maybe one day I’ll get to meet the president. He’s the president, and I respect him in his role as the president, but I have exceedingly sharp differences with him on a policy level.”
As expected, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Keith Ellison was elected to serve as the first Muslim in history in Tuesday’s election. The New York Times has an article discussing both the national and international reaction to this historic victory.
We met Keith and if you haven’t heard our interview with him yet, you should. He is something else.
But Muslims across America, and even overseas, celebrated his election Tuesday as the first Muslim in Congress, representing Minnesota’s Fifth District in the House of Representatives, as a sign of acceptance and a welcome antidote to their faith’s sinister image.
“It’s a step forward; it gives the Muslims a little bit of a sense of belonging,†said Osama A. Siblani, the publisher of The Arab American News, a weekly in Dearborn, Mich., a state with one of the heaviest concentrations of Muslims. “It is also a signal to the rest of the world that America has nothing against Muslims. If we did, he wouldn’t have been elected.â€
Mr. Ellison’s success was front-page news in several of the Arab world’s largest newspapers and high in the lineup on television news programs.
Few of his supporters expect Mr. Ellison, a 43-year-old criminal defense lawyer who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student, to effect any policy shifts in areas of concern to Muslim Americans, particularly when it comes to foreign policy and civil rights.
Keith Ellison has beaten Republican Alan Fine for Congress in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District according to Minnesota Public Radio. With 100% of the precints reporting, Ellison has defeated both his Republican and Independent opponents by 30%.
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Keith Ellison, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District
Bruce Braley, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Iowa’s 1st Congressional District
Last night, Team DoubleSpeak attended a town hall meeting on environmental justice. The featured speaker was MN-05 Congressional candidate Keith Ellison. Keith did a very good job in that meeting and we had a nice interview with him after the questions ended. If elected in November, Keith will be the first Muslim to ever serve in the U.S. Congress and he will be the first non-white person ever elected to federal office from the great state of Minnesota.
Minneapolis is a pretty hip city. I’m not even talking mid-west hip, I mean legit hip. Just how hip is this great city? Well…this morning I ate a vegan, organic, fruit covered waffle at a local corner restaurant. It was delicious! If you ever come to this city, you must try the waffles.
Today we’re locked up in Reed’s apartment, producing and writing shows. We’ll be in Minneapolis for another twenty-four hours and then we’ll head due south towards Sioux City, IA.
Tonight, we are on the Peter B. Collins show for the second time. You can listen here. We are slated to go on at 3:00pm Pacific or 6:00pm Eastern. Make sure you tune in. If you miss it, Josh will record it and we’ll put it up on the website ASAP.
-Peter
