CSUN On Point

Millions of Muslims around the world have had their religious faith put on trial because of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and Brussels. Some political analysts and American Muslims fear that the battle for the Republican nomination has prompted controversial rhetoric against their religion, including proposals to register Muslims already living in America, order police to patrol their neighborhoods and mosques, and ban any further immigration.

Islamic leaders and imams in several countries say they are not responsible for terrorist organizations, and that terrorists should be recognized as separate from their religious beliefs.

Muslim Public Affairs Council President Salam al-Marayati, said in a news conference in Los Angeles following the San Bernardino attacks, that the Muslim society will not be divided by ignorant hate.

“In the media landscape, one of the only times there is an opportunity for the Muslim voices to be heard is in the aftermath of a terrorist attack,” said Edina Lekovic, Public Affairs Consultant at the Muslim Public Affairs Council. “It sets up one of the few opportunities for there to be a mainstream Muslim voice, but it’s still in the context of bad news.”

Muslim organizations in America say they have seen unprecedented spikes in hateful episodes after anti-Muslim remarks were said by some presidential hopefuls. There have been many cases of vandalism and threats made towards mosques and those who attend them.

“People are going to have fundamentally, deep and profound disagreements about the highest things, and unless they get a sort of grip over themselves (and) learn to contain themselves, (then) these disagreements will find themselves in violence and political violence,”  CSUN Political Science Professor Nicholas Dungey said.

“Look we’re all concerned about safety,” Lekovic said, “and that’s something that I react to, too. It’s not a Muslim thing, a white thing, a black thing, a Latino thing…At this stage in our country, it’s an American thing.”

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Both Democrats and Republicans have had long and well-publicized campaign seasons for this Presidential election, and both of the front-runners have yet to acquire enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the convention.

California will likely be the state that will secure the amount of delegates for the front runners for both of the major political parties. Still, many voters are saying they’re dissatisfied and confused by the long process.

“Political parties are not democratic institutions,” said former mayor of Thousand Oaks and Pierce College Political Science professor Ed Jones. “It gives the impression that they are when you see all these primaries.”

The party rules governing the system have been slowly developed in the course of our country’s history.

“Political parties are not mentioned in the United States Constitution, the only major political element that isn’t,” Jones said.

The nomination process has evolved, from party leaders choosing the candidate they believe has the best chance to win the election, to voters having their voices heard in a primary.

“The process has become more representative,” said Los Angeles Valley College Political Science Professor Anthony O’Regan. “It has become more democratic. It does reflect the will of the people, but it is the will of the people within the political party.”

California’s registration deadline is May 23, giving voters more time, not only to register, but also pick a party affiliation. This should help avoid the problems of voters being disenfranchised because they are not registered or registered improperly, as has happened in other states.

“We won’t have necessarily the issues that they had in New York, because in New York you had to be registered six months prior to the election date in order for you to cast a ballot,” said Los Angeles Democratic Party Vice-Chair Mark Gonzalez.

The California primary election takes place on June 7. California residents can find out how they can register and where to vote on the California Voter Information Guide at http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov.

“Your voice is your vote,” Gonzalez said. “We still have time for folks to register. People are engaged; they’re excited; they’re at rallies and events. And I think it’s important for everybody to just realize: it’s just simply about the vote.”

Moderator: October Primavera

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Common sense would suggest that candidates for powerful elective office be knowledgeable and experienced, but some of this year’s presidential candidates seem to be using their lack of experience in government as a selling point.

The United States is one year away from electing its next president, and the leading candidates — Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Ben Carson — are all trying, in one way or another, to sell themselves to voters as ‘outsiders.’

“There are no outsiders really,” Pierce College Political Science Professor Denise Robb said. “We always end up with the person experienced in government. An outsider would be someone with no experience. Trump, for example, is an outsider.”

Trump is a billionaire real estate mogul and TV personality on NBC’s ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’.

Carson, Trump’s closest competitor, is an author, philanthropist and retired neurosurgeon, who became famous for separating conjoined twins.“I am never going to be politically correct since I am not a politician,” he said during an appearance on CNN.

On the Democratic side, Clinton and Sanders have both been spent decades working in government and politics, yet both are trying to adopt this ‘outsider’ label.

Article II, Section I of the Constitution says that in order to run for the office of president, a candidate must be a natural born citizen of the U.S.; he or she must be thirty-five years of age or older, and have at least a fourteen year residency in the country. Even though these basic qualifications to run for office aren’t much, some experts say voters consider more than that.

“American politics is determined by money,” Los Angeles Valley College History Professor Michael Powelson said. “The reason why Trump is leading is because he’s a multimillionaire. With money you can do what you want despite the [lack of an] education.”

Powelson said he thinks that no matter which candidate wins, there will be only one true victor: “Wall Street.”

Still, Powelson said he doesn’t believe these ‘outsider’ candidates have a chance of making it to the national elections.

“Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee, especially now that [Vice-President Joseph] Biden has said he’s not going to run, and Bernie’s numbers are starting to fizzle,” CSUN Political Science Professor Tyler Hughes said.

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