Even though he lost, even though he is exhausted, Imad ‘Dean’Ahmad is stoked. He met his goal. 30,000 people voted for him for U.S. Senate elections. And he did this on a shoestring budget of $15,000. “I spent 50 cents per vote. My opponent’s spent more than 20 times that much money and I broke the record for the Libertarian party in Maryland,” said Ahmad.The Muslim Link caught up with Ahmad to hear his post-election thoughts.
How did you fare in the various areas in Maryland?
“Many people thanked me for running, Muslims and non-Muslims, they were happy to have an alternative.
“Montgomery County residents gave me the highest amounts of votes, but this was expected as it was my home area.
“[I received] 1.6 % of the vote in Howard County, where party workers made individual phone calls to registered voters and in St. Mary’s County where I gave a lecture at the St. Mary’s College. The best investment is to talk to young people.”
Prince George’s County was the biggest disappointment as Ahmad had visited several mosques and had people electioneering for him outside polling stations. He received less than 1% of the county’s vote.
“I was scheduled to speak at the University of Maryland but Allah wills and the super storm Sandy canceled the event, said Ahmad.
“The Libertarian party needs to capitalize on the publicity and plan for the next election if we want to make an impact. They need to start local groups in each county and become relevant.
“I might run again. I realize the opportunity to educate people and I look forward to others getting involved especially other Muslims. This party doesn’t have prejudice. Muslims can mold the existing party structure where as in other political parties they would have to mold themselves to the party.
“The election results in Maryland were as expected. President Obama won 70 percent of the vote. Senator Ben Cardin was expected to win by 70 percent but only got 55 percent of the vote. Many Democrats deserted hm as he has deserted his commitment to civil liberties. In the national elections, I saw increasingly dissatisfied voters. Obama won by a very narrow popular vote. The Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won 1 million votes, which is the largest for any libertarian party candidate. People are increasingly looking for an alternative. They can predict the fiscal crisis and are finally beginning to admit [that]. This election forced people to realize how similar the Democratic Party is to the Republican party.”
On the 3rd Party
“The Democratic and Republican parties have power and have manipulated the debates in a bipartisan manner.
“Many years ago independent agencies would host the debates on national issues. Third party candidates would attend these [debates]. The two parties stopped attending these debates and refuse to participate. Even this election, national cable hosted a debate with five other candidates and Obama and Romney chose not to attend.
“People need to do research, who is funding these candidates. who is behind them. The insurance industry supported Obama. Many support both sides.”
The Maryland Ballot Questions
“This ‘marriage’ bill is a transgression to the English language. It was never about the civil rights of gay couples. The question here is about marriage. The institution of marriage is about the ability to protect children. The primary purpose is not to defend the rights of the married but to defend the rights of those children born to the couple through their sexual relations. This possibility does not even apply to gay couples. This was never on the original gay rights mandate until the federal government started imposing 150 intrusions on married couples. They started asking for this when the government instituted those laws. There is no tax break for gay couples, and gay couples are now realizing this and choosing not to get 'married'.
“This bill didn't destroy the institution of marriage. That was done with the popularization of birth control and the prevalence of sexual activity outside marriage.
“Muslims need to stay the course. Muslims need to take legal action where federal law would impose on Muslims to recognize gay marriages and violate their rights. Imams are not required to officiate gay unions.
“As far as how our children will be affected after the passage of this bill, we need to stop sending our children to public schools. Muslims need to support private, Islamic schools or need to home school their children. Educate the mothers so they can provide quality education to their children, or be able to give them an Islamic school education. Islamic schools need to also elevate their standards. Raise your children to read, encourage going to the library, and looking up reliable sources of information. Cultivate independent thought so they question propaganda presented to them.
“I was opposed to the gambling bill. While others were opposed to it for many reasons my greatest problem with this bill was that is was a clear cut case of crony capitalism. A bill to enrich the MGM Grand at the expense of the poor residents of Maryland.”
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