Challenging Iran with Moderate Views and the People's Version of Michelle Obama
Taylor Connolly
Issue date: 5/28/09 Section: World Views
With national elections coming up fast on June 12th, the state of Iran and its political structure could swing in a different direction with the rise of yet another candidate, former Prime Minister and moderate Mir Hussein Moussavi. Moussavi is credited for successfully navigating the Iranian economy during a bloody eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, and has even earned the support of another reformer and former president Mohammad Khatami. Moussavi is considered the strongest challenger at present, putting incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a defensive campaign as his support from Islamic clerics begins to dwindle and is actively being criticized for Iran's stagnant economy.
Moussavi is acting like a trailblazer in his campaigning as well, gathering an estimated crowd of 30,000 supporters Monday in the northwest of Iran near his hometown in the Azerbaijan region. This crowd is unique because the supporters that attended the exuberant rally were not paid, bribed with free food, or ordered to be bused there by their employer, tactics regularly used by President Ahmadinejad. Moussavi's campaign has enlisted the help of the social networking site Facebook, despite new government restrictions, to reach out to the younger generations of the electorate of the country where the median age is twenty seven.
This appearance marks the first of a two day tour in the country's northwest region, attempting to reach out to a possible 15 million Turkish speaking constituents, which account for nearly one third of eligible voters. If elected, Mr. Moussavi told supporters here, he would enforce the constitutional law that allows the ethnic languages of different regions to be taught at schools, something Mr. Ahmadinejad has not done. Mr. Moussavi told the voters, "Your vote is crucial in the elections." Mr. Ahmadinejad still has considerable support among Turkish speakers, especially in poor rural villages. Many low-income Iranians voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad four years ago because of his pledges to raise their standards of living.
Moussavi is acting like a trailblazer in his campaigning as well, gathering an estimated crowd of 30,000 supporters Monday in the northwest of Iran near his hometown in the Azerbaijan region. This crowd is unique because the supporters that attended the exuberant rally were not paid, bribed with free food, or ordered to be bused there by their employer, tactics regularly used by President Ahmadinejad. Moussavi's campaign has enlisted the help of the social networking site Facebook, despite new government restrictions, to reach out to the younger generations of the electorate of the country where the median age is twenty seven.
This appearance marks the first of a two day tour in the country's northwest region, attempting to reach out to a possible 15 million Turkish speaking constituents, which account for nearly one third of eligible voters. If elected, Mr. Moussavi told supporters here, he would enforce the constitutional law that allows the ethnic languages of different regions to be taught at schools, something Mr. Ahmadinejad has not done. Mr. Moussavi told the voters, "Your vote is crucial in the elections." Mr. Ahmadinejad still has considerable support among Turkish speakers, especially in poor rural villages. Many low-income Iranians voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad four years ago because of his pledges to raise their standards of living.
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