First Muslim to be elected to US Congress?

Poised to become the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, Keith Ellison has become a media magnet.

But on the campaign trail, the bespectacled populist downplays his religion and tries to focus on his progressive platform.

Ellison has weathered sharp attacks on his character, questions about his political past and criticism over his sloppy personal and financial affairs.

He is not afraid to take aim at US policies and has demanded an immediate pullout of American troops from Iraq.

Barring a political meltdown, Ellison is expected to win a seat in the House of Representatives in the November 7 election.

Though he's fasting for Ramadan and proud of his religion, the 43-year-old attorney says it's the media who have made it a big deal.

Rather, he calls for peace in Iraq, for greater US reliance on renewable fuels and for a universal, government-paid health care system.

"We need to care about the common good," Ellison recently told cheering students in St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota.

Still, his campaign headquarters are flooded with about 30 calls a day from the US and international media drawn to the story of a black Muslim running for office in the predominantly white Midwestern state of Minnesota.

Despite all the attention, pundits say Ellison's religion and race are not expected to impact the election significantly.

"It's probably a plus for a small segment and a minus for another set of voters," said Kathryn Pearson, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota who studies Congressional elections.

"His policy positions and ideology are the most important considerations for most voters," Pearson told AFP. "But that's not to say his religion is not an issue."

Many who won't vote for him because he is a Muslim would not have anyway because of his liberal Democratic views, she said. There also are others who see his past association with Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, as a sign of anti-Semitism.

'My campaign is about peace'

Ellison insists his involvement with Farrakhan was limited to an 18-month period when he helped organize the 1995 Million Man March on Washington which aimed to encourage black men to better their communities.

Today, Ellison bills himself as a moderate Muslim who wants to build coalitions with all religions and races.

He's won the support of the National Jewish Democratic Council and a prominent Minneapolis Jewish newspaper, even though his main opponent, Republican Alan Fine, is Jewish.

At St. Paul Central High School, where Ellison spoke recently, Curtis Bakken was among young Democrats who see Ellison's religion as a plus.

"With everything going on in the Mideast," Bakken said, "it's really great that we could have someone who could relate, a Muslim in office."

Ellison says he became involved in politics in college after hearing about apartheid, and he converted from Catholicism to Islam. He denies claims that his supporters include those with links to terrorist organizations.

"My campaign is about peace," Ellison told AFP in Minneapolis. "My campaign is diametrically opposed to terrorism."

Ellison said he wants to catalyze citizens of all income levels and races to have a voice in government.

He reaches out to previously disengaged groups like students and immigrants to urge them to get involved. Already, his efforts have borne fruit: voter turnout shot up in his district during the September primaries.

Ellison recently held a voters' forum in northeast Minneapolis, an area that was once largely Scandinavian and Russian immigrants but is now home to growing numbers of Somali and Hispanic Americans.

Skeptics asked how he could make a difference as one of 435 representatives in the US House. He would "find common ground," Ellison told them, by reaching out to other parties, as he did during two terms in the Minnesota state legislature.

Jillian Lay, a 50-year-old horticulturist, said she had arrived at the forum undecided but left knowing she would vote for Ellison.

"He's very authentic," Lay said, "and he's eloquent."