Keith Ellison could become the first Muslim to be elected to the US Congress next month. But his faith doesn't stop him supporting women's rights and gay rights, writes Denis Staunton in Minnesota.
Keith Ellison swept into the picnic in a Minneapolis park, pumping hands, gripping shoulders and hugging friends before leaping onto a table and setting the Democratic party faithful alight with a rousing, populist speech. Working the crowd like a revivalist preacher, Ellison had them cheering and chanting refrains as he trumpeted his vision of a fairer deal for working people, an end to the Iraq war and the breaking down of barriers within society.
If Ellison is elected to the House of Representatives next month, he will break down a barrier of his own, becoming the first Muslim congressman in US history.
A 43-year-old lawyer and community activist, Ellison made his name in the Minnesota state legislature as an environmental campaigner and an advocate for the poor. Raised a Catholic, he converted to Islam at 19 but he insists that his religion is something that is more interesting to other people than to himself.
"It's Ramadan, so I'm thinking about the fact that I'm hungry. But it's not on my mind all the time," he says.
Ellison's religion may not be on his own mind but it is preoccupying his Republican opponent, Alan Fine, who has accused the Democrat of accepting funds from a group that supports terrorism. Fine has said that "as a Jew" he is offended by Ellison's candidacy but many of the Democrat's most passionate supporters are also Jews.
"Keith belongs to a mosque that is very moderate and mainstream. It really is part of the fabric of society. My wife is a rabbi and she does a lot of work with that mosque," says state representative Richard Hornstein.
Ellison's Islamic faith does not prevent him from supporting women's rights and gay rights, including the right of gay couples to marry.
"I'm not going to demonise anybody. I want to allow everyone to live in dignity," he says.
Ellison was not always such a moderate figure and he has apologised for his early association with Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam movement, which is notorious for its anti-Semitism and bigotry. Ellison has also had to apologise for a history of traffic violations and some irregularities in his tax history but voters appear willing to forgive him.
Although his election to Congress would represent an important breakthrough for American Muslims, Ellison is adamant that he does not want to become a spokesman for his co-religionists.
"I'm talking about what unites us. I'm not talking about my faith. I think we need civil and human rights for all people," he says.
Settled mainly by Germans, Irish and Scandinavians, Minnesota has a history of radical politics and the Communist party remained a powerful force in the state right into the 1940s. More recently, Minnesotans chose former wrestler Jesse Ventura as their governor, although Ventura soon lost interest in governing and did not seek a second term.
George W Bush came close to winning Minnesota in 2000 and 2004, and the state is fairly evenly balanced between Democrats and Republicans, with Ventura's Independence Party occupying a substantial slice of support in between.
With little heavy industry and a traditionally strong commitment to education, Minnesota made the transition to a high-tech, post-industrial city more easily than most states. Minneapolis is one of the most affluent and progressive cities in the US, but it takes less than an hour to pass through the suburbs, with their million dollar McMansions, and reach Gilbertson Farm near Scandia in rural Minnesota.
Here in the local race, Republican congressional candidate Michele Bachmann was tip-toeing through a corn maze, carved out of a vast field into the shape of the Stars and Stripes. A few minutes earlier Bachmann stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance as a flag was raised to honour US soldiers in Iraq, but she is in no mood to discuss the war right now.
"The people in this area are very patriotic. They really love our country. They want to make sure our country is free and safe. The issue is defeating terrorism. It's not limited to one geographical state," she says.
A staggeringly youthful 50-year-old with apparently boundless energy, Bachmann is a former tax lawyer who has five biological children and has fostered a further 23. Socially conservative and ruthlessly ambitious, she was until recently expected to sail into Congress ahead of her lacklustre Democratic rival Patty Wetterling.
Then along came the scandal over Republican congressman Mark Foley's lurid e-mails to teenage boys and the Minnesota race was suddenly wide open.
Wetterling's son, Jacob, disappeared 17 years ago, when he was 11 and Wetterling's main contribution to public life has been as an advocate for better child protection. Within days of the Foley scandal breaking, Wetterling was running TV ads accusing the Republican leadership in Washington of covering up child abuse.
Bachmann complains, rightly, that Wetterling's ad is tendentious and unfair but it has been highly effective, wiping out the Republican's 9-point lead within days.
As we trudged back through the cornfield, Bachmann appeared suddenly weary, reflecting on the fact that she had been campaigning since 2004 for a seat that, if she wins, she will have to defend again in 2008.
"I want to serve on the financial services, transportation and homeland security committees and I think I can get a lot done in Congress," she said. "But why on earth would anyone want to spend two years running for a seat that lasts just two years?"