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Terrorism is a recurring theme in presidential elections. In the 2008 presidential election, linking Barack Obama to terrorism became one of John McCain’s main strategies. It was used to create fear and distrust, and culminated in voters going to the polls still convinced Obama is Muslim. One of the more infamous incidents occurred at a McCain rally where a woman said she did not trust Obama because
"He is an Arab." McCain shook his head and replied, "No ma'am, he is a good man." McCain may not have intended to imply that Arabs are not good people, but he did not offer any words in defense of Arab Americans. During the course of the campaign, Obama was linked to former radical Bill Ayers; he was accused of “palling around with terrorists” and just before the election Sarah Palin tried to link Obama to the PLO. Although the media repudiated these remarks, McCain and Palin used every opportunity to link Obama to terrorists. Just before the election, McCain sent out Robo calls to caution voters about Obama’s association with Bill Ayers.
Scare tactics, outrageous accusations and personal attacks are expected in a high stakes elections like the presidential race. Candidates are driven to say the most absurd things in order to win, no matter how fallacious, because words and accusations that incite fear and paranoia are part of the political machine that wins votes. Local politics generally deal with more domestic issues and have less use for dirty politics, but this last Irvine election began to mirror presidential politics.
The September 19, 2008 Candidates Forum hosted by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce was a page out of the McCain/Palin handbook. The last speaker at the event, Dr. Steven Choi cautioned the crowd that a candidate running for City Council works for CAIR (Counsel on American Islamic Relations), a dangerous, Islamic terrorist group. He was referring to Todd Gallinger, a Muslim candidate and a lawyer running with Dr. Choi’s opponents for a seat on City Council.
Dr. Choi’s statements resulted in people speaking out at City Council meetings, on several occasions. While most people spoke out in defense of Todd Gallinger and CAIR, there were a few individuals who made bigoted remarks about Islam, mis-quoting passages out of the Koran to present Islam as a violent religion. When speaking of Gallinger’s supporters, Dr. Choi said, “All of these attackers sent to City Council was orchestrated by my opponent to divert focus and make me look like a racist.” Christina Shea agrees, adding,“Todd Gallinger is responsible for dividing the community and playing the victim. This is a politically motivated act to get sympathy for his campaign.”
Dr. Choi claims he brought up CAIR because “the citizens of Irvine have a right to know” and that he was just “sharing his knowledge about CAIR.” Todd Gallinger disagrees with his motives and believes that “ it was all politics.” Larry Agran, whose sentiment is shared by many Irvine residents, said, “Suggesting to the people of Irvine that Gallinger, a Muslim, is somehow tied to terrorism is ridiculous. It’s hateful. It’s bigotry.”
There are some critics and officials who question the motives of CAIR. The fact is they have not been put on any Terrorist list by the U.S. government. CAIR has met with President Bush and FBI Director Robert Mueller and testified before Congress. They also work with such prominent groups as the ACLU, Amnesty International and the NAACP. Several U.S. government officials described the standards used by critics to link CAIR to terrorism as “akin to McCarthyism; essentially, guilty by association.” When asked about his work with CAIR, Gallinger stated, “ I’m an informal advisor. I represented them in two class action lawsuits, one involving naturalization issues.”
Dr. Choi never explicitly said that Muslims are terrorists or that Todd Gallinger is a terrorist. What Dr. Choi did was link a “terrorist group” to Gallinger, which suggests that Gallinger also “pals around with terrorists.” Just as McCain had done, Dr. Choi used fear and people’s ignorance’s as a political maneuver to win voters. In fact, Dr. Choi also sent out Robo calls, warning people about CAIR, and their connection to Todd Gallinger and Larry Agran. The major difference between McCain and Dr. Choi is that one man is dealing with global issues affecting the entire nation. Issues relating to terrorism are not relevant in local politics, it is something discussed and dealt with at a federal level. No matter what claim is made of the intent of these accusations, it resulted in Todd Gallinger receiving a death threat, where a man called his office and said “I will cut your throat like all Muslims deserve.”
The aggressive, dirty campaigning of presidential politics has finally trickled down to local politics. The 2008 Irvine elections had more negative television advertisements and mailers than any other election in Irvine’s history. Instead of focusing on the real issues, candidates focused on each other. When campaigns become nasty and personal, people become misinformed, and the community as a whole suffers.
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