From the OC Register:
Roughly 85 percent of Muslims voted for Barack Obama in last year’s election, according to postelecting polling. However, the alliance between Muslims and Democrats is actually a recent phenomenon, the product of an unusually rapid turnaround in American politics, said Louis Desipio, a political science professor at UC Irvine. Fifteen years ago, Muslims “identified with Republicans,” Desipio said. A large majority of Muslims voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election. And members of Bush’s political team made efforts to cultivate a network of high-income Muslim donors. Muslims, many of whom are socially conservative small business owners, doctors and engineers, appeared a natural fit for the GOP. But that changed soon after Sept. 11. In the months and years after the terrorist attacks in New York and outside Washington, D.C., and as the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, American Muslims felt unfairly demonized by Republicans. Republican support of Israel and opposition to immigration overhauls further alienated voters. Meanwhile, “Democrats realized that by being the party of inclusiveness in today’s California, they win,” said Desipio.

For the full story, please visit http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-231279-ocprint--.html (online subscription required to view full article).