In Ohio’s statewide primaries yesterday, Democratic attorney general candidate Subodh Chandra of Cleveland, lost to Ohio state Sen. Marc Dann. He didn’t just lose by a little, but by a lot (3-1 margin). It is enough to make me wonder why it ended up being such a lopsided contest. First, let’s go to a pre-election article to explain my surprise at the ultimate results:
Dann has been endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party and labor unions, while Chandra has received the majority of major Ohio newspaper endorsements and is supported by a long list of elected Democrats and former officeholders.
Their match-up has not been exactly friendly. Chandra has attacked Dann’s legal skills, pointing out a reprimand Dann received from the Ohio Supreme Court for mishandling a divorce case, plus a criminal case in Warren in which one of Dann’s clients pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor no longer on the books, spent four months in jail and later sued Dann. [Link]
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p>On election day the Cleveland Enquirer told its readers:
Subodh Chandra, a former Cleveland law director, is our recommendation for the Democratic nomination for attorney general. Chandra ran Cleveland’s legal office efficiently and aggressively, going after fraud and waste, using a management style that fostered communication and motivation. Also on his resume are stints as a federal prosecutor and as a legal ethics professor at Case Western Reserve University. [Link]
At a debate two weeks ago Chandra scored some points with the following:
The debate turned contentious after Chandra claimed that Dann would have failed the FBI background check that Chandra passed.
“I say this with regret because as a Democrat, I don’t like to say anything ill of a fellow Democrat, but we’d better have an honest conversation right now,” Chandra said. “My primary opponent could not become an entry federal-level attorney with a Supreme Court reprimand [and] with a case in which somebody went to jail for four months for a nonexistent crime…” [Link]
Here is one take on why Chandra got thumped so badly:
A political newcomer, Chandra, 38, impressed audiences with his legal acumen, rhetorical skills and the humorous and disarming manner with which he addressed questions about his Indian-American heritage.
He repeatedly criticized Dann’s legal work but ultimately suffered from a lack of name recognition outside of Cuyahoga County, where he spent most of his time campaigning. [Link]
So was it due to a lack of name recognition or due to a hard to pronounce name? I guess only Ohio voters know for sure.
See previous post: Ohio’s newest puppetmaster
well, if it was lack of name recognition, he’s got more of it now. he’d better run again. or perhaps he should carpetbag into a safe district tailored to ensure his election, a la bobby jindal.
hasn’t politics always been a high school popularity contest… ?
I wonder if Zbigniew Brzezinski ever faced that problem. Then again he was a political appointee and never had to run for office…
haha, thats a funny name
Excellent advice! 1st order of business, also suggested by Freakonomics, change your name
Abhi, thank you for the post.
There were several contributing factors to our loss, but the main one by far is this: inadequate financing to get our message out. Between my opponent’s spending and in-kind assistance he received from the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP), which endorsed him, we were outspent at least 2-1 (at least about $600,000 versus 300,000). Of my opponent’s total, he had about $300,000 come in in-kind in media and field assistance from the ODP and others. About $250,000 came from a sample ballot, about $50,000 from a mailer, and perhaps another $50,000 from poll workers who were assisting him on election day.
In a state like Ohio with eight media markets, even if we were able to equal Dann’s money in cash or in-kind, it is not good enough to have the same amount of money when you are breaking in a new name with the electorate.
Regretably, and I can assure you not for lack of effort by me in aggressively seeking assistance from those in our community who say they care about politics, this campaign was undercapitalized: http://www1.sos.state.oh.us/pls/portal/PORTAL_CF.CF_QRY_CAND_COMM_SEARCH.show (includes lists of donors).
No one should use this experience to suggest that Ohioans would not embrace a fellow named Subodh Chandra in their warm embrace. 182,000 embraced me. But I was speaking through a paper cup and my primary opponent was speaking through a megaphone. I do hope everyone will use my experience as a cautionary tale about apathy. If the wealthiest ethnic community per capita cannot properly finance a statewide candidate in the seventh largest state in the country, then we need to have an honest conversation about our future and its limits.
Public service is in my future. I hope it is in the future of many of your readers and I encourage you to pursue it. The experience of campaigning across Ohio, hearing people’s dreams and concerns, and being able to educate them about what amazing possiblities could lie ahead was just wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone who loves people as I do. Please visit my website http://www.ChandraForOhio.com and read my home-page message about the end of the campaign. And please explore the rest of the site and see what might have been!
Best personal regards,
Subodh Chandra
::blush::(changing names is a terrible idea. and clearly a bad joke)
Thanks for commenting, Mr. Chandra. Best of luck looking forward!
A little odd to have my words follow Mr. Chandra himself, but for what it’s worth, a perspective from an Ohio voter:
Yes, definitely an issue of name recognition. I think the election for attorney general is already one of second tier importance as compared to Governor and U.S. Senate. Despite what Mr. Chandra says about Ohioans being completely welcome to someone named Subodh Chandra, I do think when seeing the two names, Subodh Chandra and Marc Dann, the natural inclination of those here in Ohio would be to go for Marc Dann (assuming no prior information on the candidates). I don’t necessarily think this is a question of ethnicity and state of Ohio’s awareness on a cultural level — I think it’s more of a sign of a general lack of voter knowledge. As quoted above in the post, Mr. Chandra had SO MANY endorsements from reputed sources and other Democratic leaders. Why would voters go directly against so much knowledge weighing in on one side, unless all these endorsements and debates are simply ineffective?
On a somewhat different note,
Does this mean Mr. Chandra was relying solely on the Indian American community of Ohio to fund his campaign? And what is he suggesting about the future of the Indian American community?
On another note, I wonder if there were many Indian Americans that intentionally voted in the Democratic primaries simply to vote for Chandra, when they might normally vote only in the Republican primaries. The state of Ohio doesn’t require party registration to vote in the party primaries, so it’s open to anyone who is registered.
Whoa. This blog is getting too big for its britches 🙂
I think there’s definitely something to both Subodh’s comments and Rukku’s. When name recognition and voter awareness of the candidates is low, I assume it would have been very easy for many individuals to pick a guy named “Marc Dann” over someone named “Subodh Chandra.” When I was growing up in the Midwest, many a candidate named “Corrigan” and “Sweeney” got elected in my hometown that way, without anyone really knowing who they were. On the other hand, when faced with good opponents who had more name recognition, being a “Corrigan” or “Sweeney” wasn’t necessarily enough by itself. I definitely agree with Subodh that if he had more money to spend, his name recognition would have been greater and that gap between him and Dann (ugh, what a pathetic candidate) would have been narrowed.
very thoughtful comment from subodh himself, and also from rukku. thanks to both. being exactly subodh’s age, i have to give him props for having the stones to go out there and run for statewide office. if he wants to, he will be back; change is an incremental thing, and having put his name out there — familiar or not, pronounceable or not — once, he will find it easier the next time around. in any case, he says “public service is in my future” and there are numerous ways to fulfil that vocation.
peace
Espressa,
don’t change your tune, though it be provocative 🙂 What is a name but a brand? To wit: “Subodh” by any other name… 😀
I think a better plan would be to make a South Asian candidate’s name so powerful, so imprinted on the consciousness, that no one dare forget it. Americans learned to say “Mahatma” easily enough, and they learned to say the names of any number of vicious foreign dictators and despots, from Idi Amin to Mussolini.
i got embarrassed! being cheeky is well and fun but when it gathers moss in the real world, but i’ll bite my tongue before coming close to offending a man with noble intentions. building a desi political presence is uber respectable
also, as i have expressed, i think names are quite special and should be revered.
I’m with ya on that better plan… fewer people these days “correct” my pronounciation of Bangladesh. some can even pronouce Ahmadinejad. wow. (while i had to google the spelling)
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The gentleman seems to be suggesting that he is entitled to the support of the Indian community because he’s Indian. It might be that the wealthiest per capita ethnic group couldn’t fund a statewide campaign because a)the Ohio AG primary just isn’t that important to them, regardless of who’s running or b) most of them are not Democrats in the first place. The answer is probably c) a little of both.
Speedy
I am from Ohio and am going to school in Chicago. I lean pretty heavily to the right (a Libertarian who is far more sympathetic to Republicans). When I found out about Chandra and did a bit of research on him, I quickly called and emailed my parents and certain aunties and uncles and told them to donate as much as they could to his campaign (and get a tax credit while they were at it). Although I ardently disagreed with a few of his policy initiatives, Ohio is in a bit of disarray, and given his track record, he seems like the type of candidate who could and would attempt to clean it up. But more imporantly, I truly believe that the success of a South Asian, other than a Catholic South Asian like Jindal, in a prominent political position would do wonders in bolstering not only tolerance, but a level of acceptance amongst Ohioans…something that I feel is definitely lacking.
Having gone to the large state school in Ohio, I met a variety of characters from all over the state and from nearly every background. I can state unequivocally that the vast majority were very good people, but the ignorance and lack of exposure to anything other than their white upbringing was something that I found hard to fathom for quite a while. I can’t tell you how many people I knew that had never met a Jew or had a conversation with a black person, let alone a South Asian. I can also tell you how uncomfortable many were until you engaged them in conversation and demonstrated you were much like them. There are quite a few, however, that I feel would never accept someone who is a non-Christian as much as they would the exact same person if they were a Christian – there is a tangible level of empathy and association. I mention this only because it is something a South Asian politician has to take into account.
Thus, while Chandra scored well with the “elites” and was highly successful in an urban area like Cleveland, running for state office, he still has to win over country folk – country folk who would feel far more comfortable voting for a Dunn than a Chandra when they only have curosry knowledge of the candidates.
My advice for Chandra – in the future when he runs, which I really hope he does, he needs to win over local candidates who will endorse him readily and openly. The one thing I know about small town folk, having grown up in a small town and gone to school with countless, they take the word of one of their own to heart. “Aw sh*t, if Dan says he is a good guy, then he’s prolly a good guy!” These endorsements should be broadcast on smaller radio stateions, in the small local newspapers that I’ve noticed that unsophisticated country-folk and suburbanites tend to read more than the Enquirer or Plain Dealer, and make as many in-person showings at county seats and city councils – if anything, these small town folk like to feel important, and a visit from a state candidate would spread around the town and they’d appreciate the attention.
As a minority in a small town, life was hard. But, I quickly learned that you could use that to your advantage because it afforded a way to prompt conversation, thus share ideas, and ultimately, win people over. And after that – word of your good nature is spread fairly easily since you are conspicuous and recognizable. Working this on a large scale is very difficult…but, I think it is doable. First things first, Chandra has to raise the funds, as he mentioned. And second, he’s got to win the major markets, something he seems to know how to address. But I think if he makes an active concerted effort to win over the votes of those outside the major markets, voters his white opponent would most likely take to granted, he will make strides.
Good luck to him.
///But more imporantly, I truly believe that the success of a South Asian, other than a Catholic South Asian like Jindal, in a prominent political position would do wonders in bolstering not only tolerance, but a level of acceptance amongst Ohioans…something that I feel is definitely lacking.///
I’m sorry, being a Catholic South Asian, I’m curious as to why you think Mr. Chandra provides diversity whereas Bobby Jindal does not.
Speedy
Speedy – nationwide, I believe that most South Asians are democrats. It’s the immigration issue primarily, but secondarily most South Asians are Indians, and the Republicans were anti-India while the Democrats were pro-India.
Dear Mr. Chandra,
Thank you for your perspective on the loss. I wish you the best of luck (and funds!) in future.
M. Nam
Ennis,
At least in the Midwest, I get the impression that most Indians are Republican for economic reasons- at least, the first generation is. The second generation tends to be more liberal but overwhemingly so.
Speedy
I know quite a few desi lawyers and none of us were approached. You have to wonder about the efficacy of the outreach committee.
He did attend and speak at the NASABA conference last year. What other means are there to reach out to desi lawyers?
There were several contributing factors to our loss, but the main one by far is this: inadequate financing to get our message out.
Mr. Chandra pointed out an important aspect of politics– financing.
I understand that in order to get the message out, financing is a must. At the same time, however, the idea of the capitalization of politics in the US, is something that doesn’t sit right with me(I am unsure if this last point may be a bit irrelevent to Chandra’s loss)
Subodh Chandra is an easy name to remember. But even if he tried to Americanize his name — like Mac Rahman, the Indian immigrant who got only 50 votes in the NO mayoral elections — he would’ve lost. Mac owns a restaurant in NO, and apparently there’s more to his life than I thought… he fired a waitress who refused to go to the Jazzfest with him.
Does having a name that is Anglo Saxon and easy to remember an obstacle? What about Illinois’ Barack Obama?
All the best, Subodh. Keep trying.
He did attend and speak at the NASABA conference last year. What other means are there to reach out to desi lawyers?
The NASABA conference is a good place to start. One way of contacting desi lawyers, would be to start with the Bar associations. Almost all Bar associations in Ohio have the Cleveland or Columbus or Cinicinnati Bar Directories. The Bar Directories usually have names of all the members so you could look for Indian names. Now lawyers like me who have Muslim/Arabic names and who donÂ’t practice law in the state of Ohio would probably not be traceable but it should help with the overtly Hindi sounding names.