Trying to be the candidate for all Egyptians

 

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A crowd of at least 10,000 people showed up to cheer for Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh last night at the Al Gizeera Youth Club in the swanky part of Cairo called Zamalek. His campaign message is straightforward. It is thoroughly pro-revolution and all-inclusive. Among the two dozen or so speakers who took the stage ahead of the candidate, there were several women, a Coptic Christian, hardline Salafi fundamentalist Muslims, Wael Ghonim from Google, a singer, an artist and a fellow former Muslim Brotherhood member. People I talked to on the way into the rally said they liked Aboul Fotouh because he is getting support from many different sectors of Egyptian society. Looking at the range of faces on stage, one women sitting behind me remarked that it felt like the spirit of the 18 days of revolution in Egypt was back. It was an impressive event, especially considering this is Egypt's first real experience with this kind of electoral politics. But Aboul Fotouh's plan to be all things to all Egyptians could be setting himself up for failure.