Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal carried an interesting profile of Atul Nakhasi. The 19-year-old pre-med (of course) college student from Iowa proclaims: “They’re sucking up to me…” But just who is “they?”
A hand-written thank-you from Bill Clinton and a private lunch with Sen. Joe Biden are becoming normal fare for college junior Atul Nakhasi…
The ambitious, energetic president of the University of Iowa Democrats has cleverly plotted to turn his once-moribund organization into a sought-after player in the Iowa caucuses, where the first delegates in the 2008 presidential campaign will be chosen. Today, Mr. Nakhasi will be on the stage when Barack Obama speaks to the campus…“He knows every single organizer of the campaigns,” marveled Mark Bowers, 19, president of Hawkeyes for John Edwards, “and they all, obviously, want him to support that candidate…” [Link]
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p>I have to say I’m a bit jealous of young Atul. If I could devote all my energies these days to Sepia Mutiny, I’d be using it for such utterly Machiavellian purposes myself 😉 The fact that young Atul can work the system as efficiently as he does has everything to do with the crazy primary and electoral process we now have. Candidates have to suck up to him (and the vote he can potentially turn out) because if they don’t take Iowa they are facing a standing ten count in their fight to become the nominee. Having to win in a state like Iowa or New Hampshire (who let’s face it, no one cares about) is bound to enable some smart and enterprising kingmakers such as Atul.
Mr. Nakhasi, who unsuccessfully ran twice for student body-president, is a year younger than most of his fellow juniors and a year ahead of them in credits; he could graduate in May. This summer, he turned his energies to reviving the [University Democrats].
Mr. Nakhasi created an executive board for the leaders of the candidate-support groups. He gave them titles and positions and established the University Democrats as the umbrella organization, to which all the other groups report. “Who wouldn’t want a position on an executive board?” he said with a laugh. The University Democrats would also take a prominent role in all candidate visits.
Mr. Nakhasi recruited representatives by claiming the other groups were already on board, even those that didn’t like one another. The groups that support Hillary Clinton, Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards all joined when Mr. Nakhasi told them the others had committed. “We played them against each other, and it worked out wonderfully,” he said. [Link]
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p>That dear readers is mutinous. We need more cowbell like that. This last part is my favorite because it shows how to properly reap a reward from what you have worked hard to create:
Mr. Nakhasi announced his most ambitious event to date: a discourse at the university with the top six Democratic contenders, set for Nov. 11. Mr. Nakhasi says he will give each of the candidates 22 minutes to speak, including 18 minutes for Q&A from students. He also wants to include a lightning round, letting students fire quick questions. “Maybe I’ll ask Hillary what the state bird of Iowa is,” Mr. Nakhasi joked. [Link]
In these days of hired audiences and scripted debates, we might learn something by forcing the candidates to take quick-fire questions from students. That’s how you learn the most about a candidate. In the coming months you’ll see SM do its part.
The 19-year-old pre-med (of course) college student from Iowa proclaims
of course?
the bigger surprise is that indians live in iowa and go to the university of iowa
Iowa is nothing. My brother went to the University of Idaho.
I’d actually be surprised if one DIDN’T see desi students in far corners of this country. University of Iowa ain’t a small mid western school, it’s a big 10 public land grand university.
no surprise there. after all, idaho is the land of potatoes – brown on the outside, white on the inside. (JOKE!)
This kid is funny! But that’s how things get started.
With an attitude like that, the guy will not last long. Or maybe he will, if that’s what it takes to be in politics.
They deserve to be played against each other. That’s what they do to us all the time.
They, who, Abhi? It sounds like he’s playing “Iowans for Hillary” against “Iowans for Edwards” off each other. Are SAFH and SAFO being played? 🙂
Also, to contribute to the “desis in the Heartland” twig, I definitely have family who went or are attending state schools in Kansas, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Montana (and live/lived in those states). That’s as far back as the 70s, also. Desis are everywhere!
His attitude doesn’t matter. He has what they all need – access to the student body, and as long as he remains neutral, they will court him.
Iowa is awesome!! I’m from NYC and I visited there after making friends with a lot of ISU students on a study abroad trip in India–A lot of the people I know there are very into progressive movements, especially sustainability and promoting the use of locally grown foods. Iowa is great & there is a pretty significant Indian population there.
Camille said:
Ohio is like 30% Desi (I kid…but if you’ve ever lived there, you’ll know)
Yeah I was gonna say! I know mad desis in Ohio…
There are also lots of browns in Omaha, thanks to IT.
that should be ‘mad desis in/from Ohio’… apparently not a lot of them wanna go back to the midwest 😛
Shalu, I know, but when my fam went to school at OSU there it was not very desi 🙂
I was just picking states in “middle America” since there is this crazy misconception that brownz are restricted to the coasts + Texas. As the second largest population (not including the diaspora), I would be surprised if we weren’t in every crevice of the country.
I thought it was well-known that there are mad brownz in Florida and Chicago too. There are also a lot in Detroit, and quite a few in Minnesota and North Carolina that I know of as well.
I worked for the DNC in 2004, and I must say that you do have to be more than a little “Machiavellian” to grab the attention of visiting candidates– even if you work for the actual party organization. Despite whatever lofty goals or ideals one may have going in, succeeding in politics today requires oftentimes petty manipulation. Maybe I’m just jaded (but I still have the lofty ideals :p).
And by the way, I’m from Minnesota, and while my parents were one of a handful of Indians here 30 years ago, there are a TON of desis now. We have family friends who have been here for 50 years. It astonishes even me. And there are a surprisingly large number of Indians in Wisconsin, Iowa, even the Dakotas. And, not to mention Chicago, which IMO has the highest concentration of Indians I’ve ever seen (and I lived in California for 5 years).
Highest Concentrations of Asian Indians in the U.S. as of 2000
Unsurprisingly, most of the places with the highest concentrations are found in Jersey, Queens, and Nassau County, as well as parts of California, Chicago suburban area, some Texas suburbs. The only real surprises to me were “Little Flock, AR” (typo?) and Hurstbourne, KY. I know there’s a big desi community in Michigan, + I feel like a LOT of the people I grew up with moved away to Atlanta, so those two don’t surprise me.
Wow, I can’t even imagine living in the Dakotas. It’s honestly just… beyond my comprehension.
I feel like there are more south Indians sprinkled across the Midwest (especially Minnesota and the Chicago area), compared to the large Punjabi/Gujrati communities that you may find on the coasts.
I have family studying in Fayetteville, Arkansas – does that count as the backwaters ?
There were about 40? 50? of us at Notre Dame, heart of the Amish country. But that’s just undergrad. The pack was in the graduate departments.
“In the coming months you’ll see SM do its part.”
I am interested to see how SM will do this. I don’t read political blogs often. I try not to be political on my blog but if you read in between the lines you’ll probably figure out which way I tend to lean. Just because I’m not political on my blog doesn’t mean I can’t comment freely on other blogs that have the same leanings that I do but my guess is that SM readers should also leave comments on blogs that don’t lean their way because otherwise it will be kinda like preaching to the choir.
Honey, if there is a uni, college, community college, or ANYTHING resembling a college of SOME sort, there are BOUND to be desis (NOT only Indian). My dad worked at a TEENY place down in SC for a yr and there were several desi profs/admins (black Christian 4 tr school). There were some desi students too, not to mention Filipino and black folks from the Caribbean. Wow!
We need more leaders like him moving our community forward! If you are interested in the presidential election check out http://www.usinpac2008.com
This guy is a true role model and a valuable asset to our community…I would know, I’ve known him since preschool and we were roommates last year!