It’s become a yearly trip for local Arab American Democrats, but with one of the most important elections in recent memory looming, this year’s Michigan Democratic Convention seemed a little more important.

The September 6 event in Lansing was deemed successful by Taleb Salhab, who is a member of the executive committee of the Michigan Democratic Party.

“The goal was to make sure we were represented at the convention and playing an active role,” said Salhab.

“It’s critically important for our community at all levels to get involved in this election because this will be a defining election in the history of our country and the outcome will shape the direction of this country for many, many years.”

The Arab American caucus was comprised of students and community leaders. Participants from cities across the state including Livonia, Flint, and Holland, a city on Michigan’s west side, all came out and caucus members got to talk to a wide variety of candidates.

“Every candidate running for office both local and statewide addressed the caucus,” said Salhab, noting visits from Senator Debbie Stabenow as well as candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court as standouts.

“I think as a contingent we talked about various issues related to our community, the economy being one of the main issues as well as civil rights as they relate to the Arab American community.”

Now that issues from the Arab American caucus have been brought to the forefront at the state convention, Salhab, who also visited the Democratic National Convention in Denver as a delegate, said the group has shifted its focus.

“Moving forward I think there’s obviously huge interest in the presidential campaign and the Arab American demographic is working heavily to support the campaign of Senator Obama,” he said. “We’re working on all levels ranging from getting people to vote to educating the community and meeting with surrogates of the campaign and also encouraging our community to get out and vote.”