Speaking about the apparent turnabout, pollster John Zogby told the Boston Globe, "It's a complete 180-degree turn."

If valid, the dramatic shift is bad news for President Bush - the 3.5 million Arab Americans constitute a huge voting bloc that can throw an election to a candidate it favors. In states such as Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, each with more than 100,000 Arab Americans, their votes can be decisive, experts told the Globe.

According to the Globe, there are about 270,000 Arab Americans in Florida, 400,000 in Michigan, 160,000 in Ohio and 150,000 in Pennsylvania. But some experts said their support for Kerry appears soft, because both Kerry and Bush have taken strong pro-Israel positions and Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, which angers Arab Americans. And when Ralph Nader is added to the picture, the Arab-American vote could be up for grabs.

Nader, a Lebanese-American, wants the United States to pull out of Iraq and backs a repeal of the Patriot Act that many Arab Americans insist has been used by the administration to infringe upon their rights.

"It's a dilemma," Taleb Salhab, coordinator of the Florida Arab American Leadership Council and a Kerry supporter, told the Globe. "We have worked diligently with the Kerry campaign to get them to address some of these concerns, but the Nader factor remains an issue in our community. People are really, really fired up about this election," Salhab, added. "I think Florida will play a critical role as it did the last time. I am confident our community will turn out to vote in record numbers."

Peter Camejo, Nader's running mate, told the Globe, "The Muslim Arab community is very anti-Bush and is going to Kerry, but it's also one area where Nader is getting a lot of support."

Moreover, Kerry's backing of Israel over the Palestinian Authority, and his statement that he still would have voted for the war in Iraq even if he had known at the time that Saddam Hussein had no unconventional weapons or ties to the Sept. 11 attacks has upset many Arab Americans. And while he says he supports amending the Patriot Act, which the Globe notes is widely condemned by Arab Americans, he was among a majority of lawmakers who voted for it in October 2001.

"Our community has more confidence in Kerry, but half of them are not confident with either," James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a Kerry supporter and the pollster's brother, told the Globe.

Said Nader in an interview with the Globe: "If they shift from Bush to Kerry, all they are getting is a new suit of clothes. They have the same policies on Iraq, Israel-Palestine, and the Patriot Act, which are near and dear to them.

"The only other thing they are getting different is a new attorney general. But there is no guarantee. Profiling Arab Americans and Muslim Americans and using secret evidence in immigration cases – they did a lot of those things before 9/11."

Marwan Burgan, a Democratic delegate from Virginia, said that ending John Ashcroft's tenure as attorney general would be welcome to Arab Americans.

"I can't get everything I want, but people have to be realistic in politics," Burgan told the Globe. "There is great difference between Kerry and Bush policies. Kerry wants to dismantle the Ashcroft Justice Department."

Editor's note: