The first-ever major, random, nationwide survey of Muslims in America contains some surprises of interest to political warriors.
The Pew Research Center poll of 1,050 Muslim adults in the US finds substantial opposition to Islamist extremism, but equally strong opposition to the "War on Terror." Muslims in the US are "highly assimilated," close to the national norm in terms of income, and far more part of their country than are Muslims in Europe.
While press coverage stressed that American Muslims "overwhelmingly" oppose al Qaeda (how sad that such a conclusion is considered positive news in 2007), the poll also showed that 32 percent of respondents either had a favorable image of the terrorist group or they wouldn't or couldn't give an answer. Another 10 percent had only a "somewhat unfavorable" view of bin Laden's organization, meaning that four in ten Muslims in this country are still not "with us" against al Qaeda.
That's the bad news. There's also good news. First, 78 percent say that suicide bombings against innocent civilians are justified to defend Islam (I'm trying to be positive, folks; the figure also shows that nearly one in four Muslims in this country can't bring themselves to say the same). Second, Muslim immigrants tend to be more hopeful about life in the United States and about an ethic of hard work than are US-born, African-American Muslims. Black Muslims here also tend to more supportive to al Qaeda than immmigrants, according to the results. And younger Muslim immigrants, or children of Muslim immigrants, tend to be more extreme than those over age 30.
The poll shows that a big Republican activist's attempts to bring Muslims into the "big tent" have flopped. Despite President George W. Bush's hug-a-Muslim campaign, and the extraordinary lengths to which the administration and the Republicans have gone to woo Muslim voters, the poll shows that American Muslims overwhelmingly lean Democrat - by 6 to 1, despite their being socially conservative.
The poll also de-bunks a huge myth perpetrated by Islamist groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), echoed by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes (pictured), that the Muslim population in the US is between 6 and 7 million.
The poll - and it's the only well-regarded, large, random, scientific survey of its kind - concludes that there are only about 2.35 million Muslims in this country, of whom only 1.4 million are over age 18. This item is a big blow to CAIR propagandists, whose unsubstantiated but endlessly repeated figures have become a sort of "known fact."
I asked Secretary Hughes' office to substantiate the 6-to-7 million Muslims figure and got a rather sarcastic response back, to the effect that I would not be provided the source but that the State Department had better Muslim advisors who knew a lot more than I did. The response is in writing, but I plan to give the folks over there one last chance to come up with the truth before I hold them accountable for amplifying and legitimizing CAIR agitprop.