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Editor's Note: Despite that Somali politics is intrinsically parochial at the local, its manifestation in the undecided Minnesotan senatorial election is global. The world wide Al Jazeera news agency reprints WardheerNews' editorial piece on the Al Frank vs. Senator Coleman, with a particular emphasis on the key role Somali voters are playing in this election
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When the late Paul Wellstone was running for his third Senate term in 2002, he confided to me a secret of winning elections in Minnesota.
"Always, always, remember the Somali community," said the senator, as we began a day of visits to shops, restaurants and community centers in the burgeoning immigrant areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Since the early 1990s the Twin Cities have been home to one of the largest Somali immigrant communities in the United States, as an estimated 80,000 refugees have settled in cities that have historically been dominated by Norwegians, Swedes and Finns.
It is still important, when campaigning in Minnesota, to reach out to the Scandinavians, but as one of the closest US senate races in the country concludes, Wellstone's friend and potential successor, Al Franken, is taking his mentor's advice.
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| Fighting in Somalia in remains a concern for the community in the US [AFP] |
Running hard this year against Republican Norm Coleman, who won the Minnesota senate seat after Wellstone was killed in an October, 2002, plane crash, Franken has aggressively sought the Somali vote.
It is a serious competition.
Coleman was the mayor of St. Paul as the Somali community took shape and grew in numbers.
He understands that Minnesota Somalis are well organised and politically engaged.
And he has reached out to its voters, co-sponsoring the "Somalia Stabilization and Reconstruction Act of 2007," an initiative developed by Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, the chairman of the Africa subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But Franken, a sometimes controversial author and entertainer who is making his first race for elected office, and his supporters have worked hard to secure the Somali vote.
Polls completed prior to today's election show the Minnesota contest is very close.
The votes of members of the Twin Cities Somali community could decide it.
And because the Minnesota race is seen as critical one for Democrats - who hope to dramatically expand their narrow 51-49 Senate majority today - Somali-American voters could, by extension, play a definitive role in shaping the character of the next Congress.
When Franken was campaigning for the nomination of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party (the local affiliate of the national Democratic Party) his campaign even produced a video featuring Busad Iman Kheyre, a Twin Cities social worker and businesswoman, explaining in her native language how members of Minnesota's Somali community could help elect Franken.
Franken has been getting a boost from Minneapolis Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the US House, who campaigned in late October at a Somali-American Community event, where he encouraged the crowd to vote for Franken.
In part, he said, it was because of his concern that: "Senator Norm Coleman voted with President Bush almost always and that he hasn't done anything to advance peace in the Middle East or Somalia."
Franken has, as well, gained an endorsement from a popular Somali-American web magazine, Wardheer News.
Senator Coleman, like his Republican associates, voted against a number of social programmes that Somalis in Minnesota and their family depend on, or partially take advantage of.
There are no compelling reasons to believe that senator Coleman, if elected for a second term, will break ranks with the Republican agenda and advance issues that are so dear to the Somali community.
Another issue that is disconcerting to many voters is Senator Coleman's campaign, which has been marred by negative and personal attacks against his rival, similar to that of fellow party member, Senator McCain.
Both are using scare tactics and distorted wedge issues, while ignoring real issues that confront main street voters.
But his challenger, Al Franken, a passionate progressive Democrat, will, with the help of [the] Somali-American community, join the likes of Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and, if recent leads hold, future president Obama, to reinvigorate Washington's commitment to meaningful social programmes.
The choice could not be clearer.
The Somali community's familiarity with Senator Coleman notwithstanding, WardheerNews endorses his challenger, Al Franken, who is a better match with the aspirations of the Somali community in Minnesota.
John Nichols
Doha, Qatar
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John Nichols, a political writer at The Nation magazine, will be providing live analysis for Al Jazeera during our special US election coverage beginning at 22GMT on Tuesday, November 4.
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