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Ephrata family physician Dr.
Mohammad Said, 53, has announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate as an
independent. Dr. Said, a Palestinian by birth, has been active
in Democratic politics and deeply involved in Arab-Israeli and Middle
Eastern
Dr. Said, noting he has been a political
activist his entire life, says he holds no illusions about winning the
race, but views it as an opportunity to spread his views, particularly in
regards to increased emphasis on trade with the Moslem world. He first
became actively involved in Democratic politics in 1984 when he campaigned
for Jesse Jackson in Iowa. Since that time he has been a delegate to county
and state conventions and has been a platform committee member to the
national convention and served two years as vice chairman of the Grant
County Central Committee. Despite close ties to the Democratic
Party, Dr. Said explained he is running as an independent because he is
unable to completely embrace the Democratic platform. "I
found it very difficult to run as a Democrat because I have some major
disagreements with some parts of the platform and instead decided to ran as an independent on what I call the Middleof-the-Road Platform," he said. Dr.
Said’s campaign embraces ideas from both the
Republican and Democratic parties, as well as a number of his
own. The Ephrata physician has scheduled a nominating
convention at his ranch near Ephrata for Saturday, June 27 at 6 p.m. to
obtain the 200 signatures necessary to be placed on the primary ballot with
an overall goal of capturing 5 percent of the primary vote to win a spot on
the November general election ballot as an independent.
However, he stressed that while serious about getting his ideas across, he
will continue with his family practice, confining campaigning to weekends.
He outlined the following 10 major issues he
plans to address in his campaign.
1. Foreign trade. "This is an important
issue in order to create jobs and open markets, particularly in the Moslem
countries with a population of more than one billion," he said. Dr.
Said questioned whether too much emphasis hasn’t been placed on trade
with Japan and urged working to develop trade with the six Islamic
republics of the former Soviet Union. He also called on the United States
to work to rebuild Iraq in a non-military manner in the wake of the Gulf
War.
"Japanese, German and French companies
are waiting to become involved and we should be in a position to
participate, too," he said, noting his background in Islamic issues
and opposition to the Gulf War will help strengthen Washington’s
economic position in this part of the world.
2. Health Care. "I am for universal and
federal health care under a single payer system that
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