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The U.S.-educated Morsi appears willing to broaden his appeal but has offered few specifics. He has vowed to be a "president for all Egyptians" -- a nod to minority Christians who voted overwhelmingly for Shafiq. He has pledged to work to realize the goals of the revolution, a promise designed to appease the pro-democracy youth groups behind the uprising that toppled Mubarak. And he has pledged a national unity government. "We are certain that the remnants of Mubarak's regime and his gang, and those that belong to it that are trying to bring back the former regime will fall flat and will land in the garbage bin of history," he said. Morsi's success, said Middle East expert Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution in Doha, Qatar, depends on how explicit and concrete the Brotherhood promises will be and whether the group can reassure significant segments of the population that view it as opportunist and hungry for power. Pro-democracy activists say that the Brotherhood did not join their 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising until it became clear it had irreversible momentum and that it later abandoned them during their protests against military rule so as not to lose the goodwill of the generals who took over from Mubarak. But the alternative -- Shafiq -- will be hard for them to accept. "Leftists and liberals can hold their noses and vote for Morsi," Hamid said. "The Muslim Brotherhood is moving to the center and not everyone who did not vote for Morsi in the first round was actually voting against him." The Brotherhood was empowered by the ouster of Mubarak 15 months ago, emerging as the nation's most dominant political force after spending the best part of nearly 60 years as an illegal, underground organization. It went on to win just under half of all seats in Parliament. But it has failed to translate its dominance in the legislature into real political power, partly because the generals wield near-absolute authority, and also because of the perceived poor performance of its lawmakers. Its credibility took a hit when it reversed an earlier decision not to field a candidate in the presidential election. Later, it attempted to pack a 100-member panel assigned to draft the constitution with its own lawmakers and other Islamists. Khalil el-Anani, an expert on Islamic groups from Britain's Durham University, said the Brotherhood needs to change its thinking and cast aside the "persecuted" approach left over from years in the political wilderness. "They don't realize that things have changed around them," he said. "In order for him to win, Morsi must reinvent himself as a nonpartisan politician."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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