It worked about as well as nativism did, according to James Lamond:
Keith Ellison, who was targeted in the campaign by both a group called Americans Against Hate and The Tea Party Nation because “He is the only Muslim member of congress. He supports the Counsel for American Islamic Relations, HAMAS and has helped congress send millions of tax dollars to terrorists in Gaza,” won by more than 40 percentage points (67.8% to 24.2%). (Andre Carson, also a Muslim, also won reelection by more than 20 percentage points (58.7% to 37.8%)).
Sharron Angle, who played the fear card with claims that Sharia has taken over American cities, lost in Nevada.
Bruce Braley, who was attacked by his opponent (Benjamin Lange) for not opposing the “victory mosque” won by two percentage points (49.5% – 47.6%).
Nick Rahall, who is Lebanese American and was targeted by the West Virginia Conservative Foundation (WVCF) for his outreach to the Arab-American community, and by his opponent (Spike Maynard) who ran an ad saying donations to Rahall by the National Association of Arab-Americans PAC, the National Muslims for a Better America PAC and the Arab American Leadership PAC amount to “terrorist ties” and that Rahall is “good for the Middle East, bad for America,” won with 56% of the vote.
Carl Paladino, who ran ads denouncing the “Ground Zero mosque” lost by over 25 percentage points in the NY governor’s race.
Illario Pantano, the candidate for North Carolina’s 7th District, who wrote in the Daily Caller that, “the Cordoba Mosque in Spain symbolized a gateway to Muslim conquest of Western Europe – a conquest which today is unfolding in real time,” lost by almost 8 points.
Lamond notes that Renee Ellmers won in North Carolina's 2nd District after running a ridiculous ad on the so-called Ground Zero Mosque attacking her opponent for not taking a stand on a land-use dispute in Manhattan, but that district was likely to go Republican in a wave election anyway. The bigger worry is that Islamophobia becomes a kind of cultural litmus test for Republican candidates and therefore an informal part of their policy platform, so that anyone who wants to get nominated as a Republican has to prove that they're sufficiently anti-Muslim. As Marc Lynch writes, mainstream American politicians debating whether or not Muslims deserve to be treated like other Americans has "real costs both at home and abroad."
In any case, it's nice to see that Carson and Ellison can continue their stealth jihad to enshrine Taliban-style Sharia law in the U.S. as members of the LGBT Equality Caucus.
