By Ramy Osman
June 2012
Tuesday June 12, 2012 was a primary election day in Virginia. There were a number of district primaries around the state for US House of Representatives, and there was also a state-wide Republican primary for US Senate. Three of the primary races had a liberty-minded candidate. One candidate was Bob Marshall who ran for the Republican nomination for US Senate. He is a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates who authored a bill nullifying a portion of the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) which would otherwise authorize indefinite detention based on suspicion alone. Another candidate was Karen Kwiatowski who was running for the Republican nomination for the US House of Representatives in the 6th district (Shenandoah). She is a former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who is an author and critic of the wars and political corruption. The third candidate was Ken Vaughn who was running for the Republican nomination for the US House of Representatives in the 11th district (Fairfax & Prince William). He ran a campaign platform that was focused on debt-reduction and budget-reform.
Although none of the liberty candidates won, each of the campaigns were able to increase public awareness of key issues that are critical for reforming the government. Their principled positions forced their running mates to either adopt those same principled positions or at least open the door to discussions on those positions. The campaigns were also able to organize like-minded people and get them to push the liberty message throughout the GOP.
Virginia-M4L had endorsed Ken Vaughn in the 11th district and worked with him in the final days of the campaign to reach out to the Muslim community of Northern Virginia. VA-M4L arranged for Ken to make announcements after the Friday Prayers at Dar al Noor mosque, arranged for flyer distribution after the Friday Prayers at ICNV (Shirley Gate) mosque, and arranged for Ken to give a brief speech at Dar al Hijra mosque after the Ishaa evening prayer (with 100+ attendees). He was well received by the community.
The following message was sent to Muslims in the Northern Virginia area after the conclusion of the race:
Salamu alaikum,As many of you know, Ken Vaughn didn’t win the Republican nomination for Congress in the 11th district of Virginia. He didn’t shy away from reaching out to Muslims. This was despite the Islamophobic tendencies of some Republicans and evangelicals (He himself is evangelical). I was at the campaign after-party where he expressed gratitude for the support he received from the Muslim community. I too want to thank those of you who went out to vote or at least spread the word. We have the satisfaction of supporting a principled person and building a bridge with the liberty movement in Virginia. If you didn’t get a chance to vote or spread the word, then maybe next time you can participate with us insha Allah.Make no mistake, Ken Vaughn was directly challenging the “military industrial complex”. His platform was about reducing the national debt which includes gutting the military and defense department by one-third. He was running against Chris Perkins who is former military and who wants to perpetuate the defense jobs (both govt and contractors) that are concentrated in Northern Virginia.We’re still in the early stages of a nation-wide liberty movement. One of the main objectives of this movement is to reduce the size of the federal government. A beneficial byproduct of this reduction would be reducing the size of the military and defense department (thus minimizing our international military abilities), oppose the unconstitutional laws and agencies which infringe our liberties (particularly ending the Patriot Act & NDAA, and challenging the TSA, NSA, FBI, etc), end foreign aid (which includes ending financial and military aid to Israel), reduce federal spending and debt (no more bailouts, reduce the role of lobbyists, and reduce American indebtedness to companies and foreign governments), and restore power to state governments (where each state government is free to make and implement their own laws and agencies, while the federal government is only limited to what is in the US Constitution).These policy positions are a direct challenge to the “military industrial complex” and the partnership between government & big-business. Any candidate for a federal position (like President, US Senate, US House of Representatives, or any supporting position), who has the above mentioned views of the liberty-platform, will have the endorsement of the Virginia Chapter of Muslims4Liberty (VA-M4L). Candidates for state government positions (like governor, state congress, county positions, etc.), and who adopt some or all of the above views, will increase their likelihood of gaining an endorsement from VA-M4L (Muslim opinion of local issues would also be relied on). But the fact remains that most candidates are of such poor quality that we cannot put an M4L endorsement on them. Our endorsements are based on principles which are in line with our Islamic values and which promote liberty in view of the constitution. We do not compromise these principles, so rest assured that when M4L endorses a candidate, it’ll be beneficial for the community.Thank you to the mosques and community leaders who accommodated this campaign. And please stay in touch and share your ideas and efforts.Ramy Osman