U.S. media is reporting that the Obama campaign held an outreach event for Virginia area Muslim-Americans at a facility tied to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. According to a POLITICO report:
10/12/12 3:46 PM EDT The Obama campaign is hosting an outreach event for Virginia-area Muslim Americans on Sunday, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. Brian Moran, the chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, will represent the Obama campaign as a surrogate at an event in Sterling, Va. at a local community center It’s one of the first real outreach events this cycle by the Obama campaign to a community that is largely overlooked — and sometimes demonized — by both sides of the aisle. There are more than 2 million Muslim-Americans in the United States, most of Arab, South-Asian and African-American decent. That’s less than 1 percent of the US population, but Muslim voters are concentrated in a number of states and major metropolitan areas — including the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. According to research by Pew, Virginia is among the ten states with the highest number of Muslim Americans — and the only real contested swing state on that list aside from Ohio. Those pockets of voters — by all indications, likely to vote for Obama — could play a role in a close state like Virginia. President Obama leads among Arab Muslim-Americans in a recent poll by a whopping 75 to 8 percent. The Obama campaign has always treaded cautiously around the Muslim community — given the false and hysterical rumors that have circulated about Obama’s own religious beliefs and background. In a well publicized incident in 2008, two supporters wearing traditional headscarves were denied entry into an Obama event. The campaign later apologized.
The invitation linked to in the report reveals that the event was held at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) , a prominent Muslim community organization in the Washington metropolitan area and a number of important U.S. Brotherhood leaders are known to have been members of ADAMS. The Imam and Executive Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) is also the President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an important part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.