Religon and Politics in Minn. Story aired: Monday, September 18, 2006
In Minnesota voters in November have the opportunity to elect the first Muslim to hold a seat in Congress. Criminal defense attorney Keith Ellison is running as a self- proclaimed progressive hoping to represent one of the most liberal districts in the country.
Ellison is African American, born to a middle-class family in Detroit. He converted to Islam while in college and last spring he won the endorsement of his party, the Democratic Farmer Labor party.
But hours after Ellison's Democratic primary victory last week, his GOP opponent brought up Ellison's links with Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.
Guests:
Cristopher Gilbert, professor of political science at Gustavus Adolphus College
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