You’d have to be living in a hole to not know that the Presidential races are heating up. With Al Gore out of the race I’ve been finalizing my decision as to who I will be supporting when I vote in the Texas primary in mid-March. Unfortunately, because of where I live, my primary vote might be marginally more meaningful than my general election vote when it comes to electing our next President. I will have much greater say over state and local politics though, so I absolutely will vote. If I am in the midst of finalizing my decision then I expect that some of you are as well. Therefore, here are some political angles that might be of interest to our largely South Asian American readership as we come down the stretch. First off is a survey from DiversityInc.com that some friends of mine were emailing around [via Mercury Rising]:
As you can see, the Democratic candidates’ campaign staffs seem considerably more diverse than the Republican staffs (if you are willing to believe this survey without questioning the details of the poll). I am not sure though if I believe that Guiliani’s campaign doesn’t have a single minority. There is obviously some margin of error in a poll like this but Diversity.com attributes some of that error to the following:
While DiversityInc.com was able to get extensive feedback from the people involved in the Democratic candidates’ campaigns, nobody on the Republican side would talk to them despite repeated efforts on DiversityInc.com’s part to contact them. [Link]
<
p>
You notice how Clinton seems to have the most overall diversity and also the most Asian Americans? If Bill Clinton was America’s first African American President can we expect that Hillary would be the first Asian American one were she to win?
We are also in the stage of the campaign when “major figures” are granting their official endorsements to a candidate. Just recently Pat Robertson gave his support to Guiliani. Who do we look to in the desi community for an endorsement? Well what about the OM (Original Macaca). Which campaign is S.R. Sidarth now working on after he helped Webb take down Allen with the power of his hair cut? [hat tip to former SM Blogger Siddhartha]
S.R. Sidarth — a name you might recall from the George Allen-Jim Webb race last fall — is now hard at work on the Democratic presidential campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.Sidarth, of course, was on the receiving end of Allen’s “macaca” comment, which tilted the race in Webb’s direction.
No word (yet) on whether Sidarth is now working as a “tracker” for Richardson as he did for Webb. [Link]
What about Musharraf? If he was a U.S. Citizen and could vote who would he support? Or what about his political arch-rival Bhutto? Turns out they’d likely support the same candidate: “Dunkin” Joe Biden. Robert Novak clues us in:
President Pervez Musharraf and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto each placed telephone calls from Pakistan to Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to discuss the country’s crisis before either talked to President George W. Bush.On Saturday, Bhutto emphasized to Biden the need for parliamentary elections in January with Gen. Musharraf remaining as president but leaving the army. Musharraf called Biden on Tuesday and asked that their conversation be kept confidential. Biden got the impression Musharraf could accept January elections although he had triggered the crisis by suspending the constitution.
Biden, seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, wants the Bush administration to get actively involved in resolving the situation. He wants development now of a post-election power-sharing agreement between Musharraf and Bhutto. [Link]
<
p>So for all you America haters out there, it isn’t Bush and the CIA that are determining the fate of Pakistan. It isn’t those incorrigible lawyers either. It is Joe Biden. Here are some excerpts from his op-ed in today’s Baltimore Sun:
First, we must take an active role in the current crisis and make it clear to Pakistan that actions have consequences. After Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed de facto martial law, President Bush’s first reaction was to call on him to reverse course. Given the stakes, I thought it was important to actually call him, and I did so. President Musharraf and I had a very direct and detailed discussion. I told him it is critical that elections go forward as planned early next year, that he follow through on his commitment to take off his uniform, and that he restore the rule of law to Pakistan. I also spoke to opposition leader Benazir Bhutto…Second, we must move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy that gives the moderate majority a chance to succeed. The current U.S.-Pakistan relationship is largely transactional – and this transaction isn’t working for either party…
Third, this new policy cannot succeed in isolation. We must help create conditions in the region that maximize the chances of success and minimize the prospects for failure. When we shifted resources away from Afghanistan to Iraq, Mr. Musharraf concluded that the Taliban would rebound, so he cut a deal with them. Redoubling our efforts in Afghanistan would embolden Pakistan’s government to take a harder line on the Taliban and al-Qaida. [Link]
<
p>So what else we got? What about news from the Obama campaign? He has been closing in on Hillary in New Hampshire and Iowa. From last week’s LA Times:
Remember back in June when Barack Obama had to apologize publicly for a caustic memo his campaign leaked to reporters about Hillary Clinton’s ties to the Indian American community? We wrote about it here.To get Clinton’s reaction, a reporter showed the memo to her campaign people, who had no promise to keep. So they turned it around on Obama by leaking it to other reporters with the same secrecy promise to demonstrate the alleged hypocrisy of his “politics of hope” campaign. It’s like a game, isn’t it? Except the stakes are rather high.
Well, during the last day or so behind the scenes, the Clinton folks, who play hardball, have been shopping around to some writers (not this one) a story idea that a couple of prominent Obama supporters had lobbied the South Carolina Democratic Party’s executive council last week to keep Stephen Colbert off the state’s primary ballot, which they succeeded in doing.
When you think about it, that’s probably a good idea. Colbert, a funny fellow who plays a political talk show host on his Comedy Central show, got Doritos to sponsor his candidacy and claimed to be showing the fundamental hypocrisy of the political system by trying to run in both parties’ primaries.
He’s good for a laugh, and normally serious Tim Russert even had him on the normally respectable “Meet the Press,” for a faux serious candidate interview. The “truthiness,” as usual these days, is that Colbert’s “campaign” provided priceless free publicity for his TV program and new book.
The Clinton folks may also have wanted Colbert off the ballot too, because each vote for…the comedian is one less for the real politicians. More likely, Clinton leads in South Carolina polls and Obama needs more votes to catch her. And polls indicate he appeals to roughly the same younger, college-educated crowd as Colbert does. So his operatives lobbied against the distracting Colbert candidacy. [Link]
The irony here is that Colbert’s popular Facebook site was also started by an…Indian American. Keep letting me know of any more South Asian American angles you’d like to hear about.
Giuliani’s blue stripe is laughably out of place given the NYC backdrop. I have my doubts on Diversity Inc’s polling.
Is it that out of place given his Robertson endorsement? Besides which, it is well know that he was never liked by many of the minority populations of NYC.
If this poll is true, neither Guiliani nor Clinton’s campaign staff represent the true picture of America. Edwards is the closest.
I personally pay very little importance to diversity of the campaign staff – it’s the candidate’s stand on issues that matter to me.
M. Nam
Yes, but its the candidates’ staff which largely determines their views on the issues, or at least how they communicate their views on an issue.
abhi’s correct. bill clinton’s staff largely determined his views on executive privilege. in fact, he was also greatly influenced by those who wanted to sit on the presidential staff.
If by assuming having people with diversity brings diverse viewpoints, how would they ever reach consensus on any issue? Further, isn’t assuming that people with so called diverse background have diverse viewpoint is being presumptuous? I bet people supporting Hillary including the Chinese businessmen skirting the law on campaign donations have a pretty monolithical view…they are all liberals and support Hillary.
Abhi, an interesting thread.
If you permit this slight tangent however, Bhutto and Musharraf are hardly arch-rivals. She is grandstanding against him big time – but they are really on the same side. After Musharraf’s press conference of yesterday, where he rubbished the idea of her having a popular base – especially in the Punjab, she has come out in favor of full restoration of the pre-November 11 Supreme Court – the one thing anyone can point to that they really differ on, and even there it’s not clear how sincere she actually is. Other than that, it’s well known that they are together in a grand power-sharing deal – she legitimizing him, he agreeing to call off the prosecution on the corruption cases against her.
.
I know. I was trying to be a bit sarcastic there but probably didn’t make that clear.
Giuliani doesn’t get a whole lot of love from people of color in NYC. Things like the Amadou Diallo incident ensured that. I’m not surprised by these numbers!
We live in NY and here all the desi uncles and aunties love Giuliani. I mean by love him I mean they think he is the best politician alive in America. Giuliani didn’t treat the Black and Latino communities with respect but NYC Indians don’t really get along with NYC Blacks and Latinos.
Giuliani’s tough on crime policy appealed to a lot of desis who seriously believe petty thieves ought to be imprisoned for life.
I dont know man.. there is something roach-y in the lentils. Judging by the size of the smallest unit on the charts the size of the respective samples was either 15 [Biden, Obama] or 20 [Romney, Richardson]. I wouldnt be surprised if they took a sample of 2 for Giuliani – any self-respecting social scientist knows that data exists to prove a hypothesis.
Great post 🙂
For what its worth, my mom quite likes Giuliani.
We never agree on anything politically because I inherited her stubbornness 😉
It does seem a bit much. They should release all the names of staff and point out which ones are ethnic.. but you know, far more important to me than politicians is the question of why the print media is dominated by only one race. At least it is in Canada. I was researching an (as yet) unpublished article this year, called the Establishment Print Media Shut Out, in which I discerned that forty percent of Vancouver are a visible minorities, yet less than three percent of the staff at the three big dailies are nonwhite. There is one even online paper that has grown up outside this paradigm and is catching on (smaller readership base than SM) with the mantra “keep independent journalism alive”, but the stats are similar. There is one monolith that owns all of the weeklies in BC (like a hundred papers), and when I called it to find out if they kept stats on this information, the person in charge thundered at me that diversity of reporters wasn’t important, and why should it matter? And this is from people who are ultimately responsible for covering this kind of news.
Guiliani is a fool. Every time NYPD police brutality is brought up, he says, “but we have good ones too”
It is a conservative and traditional view – eg. Jean Valjean from Les Miserables. I guess this view appeals to a whole host of people who have had to struggle to craft a living.
Guiliani is a fool
nuff said.
For 2008 Clinton as Pres. and Obama as Vice Pres. This way Obama gets some experience and thrashes the Republicans in the next i.e. 2012 elections.
In India “encounter”ing is considered good police work. And the NYPD never accidentally shot a desi with a foil wrapped samosa they mistook to be an I.E.D., so Giuliani’s unwillingness to take the boys in blue to task is forgivable for the more reactionary members of our community. This man has nothing to offer the nation, his ambitions are best kept local…
Jasmin, I would be interested in your paper – especially if you could map the representation in print media versus the racial breakdown of graduates from media studies, journalism programs around the country from 1997-2004.
that said – Do you recall this special issue by the G&M . And have you seen the Star’s desi life.
I agree with HMF.
Good thought but it would never happen in a millions years. Obama would try another year and Hillary might pick someone from an electorally important state or someone else that would “balance” the ticket. Likewise if Obama wins he’d pick someone without Clinton’s negatives. People should be looking at Tester from Montana or Tom Dashcle in my opinion (not that either would help with the electoral map).
this has to be wrong. isn’t guiliani sindhi?
I think it’s misleading to say that having a more racially diverse campaign staff makes a politician more open to diverse views, since this is politics after all. I think that people tend to assume that more racial diversity = less racist/more favorable to minorities. But does a conservative Indian-American really think, ‘Gee, Hillary has more Asian-Americans on her staff, I think I’ll vote for her!’ I mean, Bush arguably had a lot of ‘diversity’ in his cabinet, but does that automatically make him a better person or a better president? So ultimately I don’t think these graphs matter too much compared to the candidate’s overall image and politics. Especially because the ratios of which minorities they have on their staffs relate somewhat to their own backgrounds/platforms/interests, e.g. Hillary and Chinese-American business interests, Bill Richardson having the only Native Americans on staff, Obama having the most African-Americans on staff, etc.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that Giuliani’s staff is apparently 100% white, but then I think about his history in NYC (and my parents aren’t fans, despite us being victims of petty crime several times over) and it’s somehow not as surprising. I’m also not a fan of his presidential campaign because of his politicking and how he exploits 9/11 and makes himself The Big Bad Protector. Whatever Rudy. He’s also taken to calling out ‘the liberal media’ in his campaign speeches, which pisses me off when anybody does that. I was watching The Daily Show a few weeks ago and Jon Stewart played a clip where Rudy said that, and responded along the lines of, “Yeah, because we in New York just want the peaceful terrorists to blow up our buildings so we can have lots of abortions and be gay and get married.” Heh. It was hilarious and so sad.
P.S. Edwards ’08!
noooo. hillary clinton is!
oh wait, i think it might’ve actually been laura bush… i forget!
since when have the italians been considered white?
Also I will laugh my ass off if Giuliani ever tries to posit that he has ‘family values.’ The staunch Democrat in me has dreams about ‘values’ voters voting against Giuliani in favor of a third-party candidate, leading to a Nader-like split (yeah I know people have brought up that his effect was overstated, but bear with me).
Yeah this New Yorker is not a fan of Giuliani.
since when have the italians been considered white?
Read
Giuliani was not necessarily loved, however, by working class desis (e.g. taxi-wallahs) when he used his “get tough” policies to talk mad smack about them and demonize them. 🙂 All I’m saying is we shouldn’t necessarily paint all desis with the same brush.
Except, Abhi, that Obama does bring in strategic states (the Great Lake states) while Clinton really adds NOTHING to the count since NY will probably swing Dem anyway. The question is is he enough to outweigh people’s hesitations over Clinton? I don’t know if they would work well together given the constant snipping they do at each other’s heels. It’s also hard to tell how much of that is grandstanding for the primaries, though.
Not really. There is no “Great Lake States.” There is Illinois that is safely Democratic. Michigan usually goes the way of the winner and will likely go Democrat this time. Indiana often goes Republican. Obama offers Hillary nothing, nor would he accept her invitation.
That’s exactly what I am endeavouring to do, khoofia. People are only going to give me about a thousand words or so for this, and you’re looking starting to look at a peer reviewed paper, or at the very least, a magazine feature, but I started on a more local scale- I went to the UBC journalism school’s website and tabulated the minorities in the last few graduating classes. As far as I can tell, they exceed their actual representation in spades. One can argue that there is a trickle down effect, where it takes time for such a change to fully affect the actual workforce, but if one of the industry behemoths is directly saying that a reporter’s background doesn’t matter, can there be much anticipation of new minority hires?
And Canada’s largest media union came out with a study a few months ago wherein they reported data on race as part the study- again, abyssmal numbers, although I suspect because they included television stations in their scope, the talking head reporters were in, so it was marginally better. Can you believe that there were several questions about whether they felt the newsroom was inclusive enough of women reporters- a worthy investigation- but there were no questions vis a vis the sepia?
I’m also interviewing one journalism professor who keeps hearing that the talent isn’t there when it comes to bringing journalists of colour on board. He’s started a program to lure more minorities into the game at his school, but the last time I checked, you needed to write at a fourth grade reading level for our local daily, because the idea is that it should be accessible to everyone.. dude, how much deft type do you need? Its not like you have to be Michael Ondaatje, Salman Rushdie, Anita Rau Badami, Arundhati Roy, Shauna Singh Baldwin, ad infinitum 😉
Illinois will prob go Dem, but I think Obama could drag in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio — the first two lean mod left and the latter two mod right (or I guess if I imagine them in technicolor I think of MN/WI as light purple/blue and OH/MI as light red), and WI/OH are certainly swing states. 🙂 I don’t think he would accept her invitation, but I do think he is more likely to swing middle states than Hillary.
important diversity questions that need to be asked:
is hillary enough of a woman? too much of a woman? will the first laddie stay zipped up? is bill richardson enough of a latino? is obama american enough? is he too black? black enough? why does his name rhyme with osama, and why is his middle name husein? is edwards pretty enough? is biden maladroit enough? is mccain crazy enough? is romney christian enough? is giuliani straight enough?
thinking about binary questions like this eliminates the need to really evaluate candidates, and makes voting SO MUCH EASIER.
my vote is for fred thomson. he’s too lazy to do any real damage.
People should be looking at Tester from Montana or Tom Dashcle in my opinion (not that either would help with the electoral map).
Daschcle cant even carry his own state and Tester brings too few electoral votes if he can turn Montana blue (not likely). I think Mark Warner (Virginia) or Jim Webb (Virginia/Military and economic populist) or Evan Bayh (Indiana/all centrist DLC ticket) or Bill Richardson (Hispanic vote) are probably the front runners under a Hillary run.
Since Lyndon Johnson carried Texas for Kennedy, no Veep has been able to turn a state. Maybe Hillary will pick someone who would just compliment her and not worry about a Veep who can flip a red state. If that is the case, Abhi’s choice of Tester might not be a bad one though Tester probably needs more experience.
Probably minorities, multi-racials, undecideds, moderates, not-so-happy with republican but hate clintons etc.. he can get his feet wet for the big stuff in 2012. will that lure him especially since many folks suggest that lack of experience is his biggest liability for the top job.
Illinois will prob go Dem, but I think Obama could drag in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio — the first two lean mod left and the latter two mod right (or I guess if I imagine them in technicolor I think of MN/WI as light purple/blue and OH/MI as light red), and WI/OH are certainly swing states. 🙂
How can Obama drag in Ohio anymore than he can drag in Florida or Virginia? He has no base in Ohio. Springfield politicians are not considered Mid-Western in Ohio or Iowa.
Because Obama’s populist rhetoric around poverty issues appeals to moderate Ohio voters who often vote to support public goods such as education, roads, etc. but are more conservative on social issues and are still grappling with race relations. So long as he focuses on quality of life and working/middle class people and stays clear of a “values” debate, I think he could pull in city-based organizations and churches and get out the vote. It wouldn’t be impossible to flip the state. Aside from the shadiness around voter fraud, Ohio is not the same beast as VA or FL. I could be totally off-base — my exposure to the Ohio electorate is based largely around the greater Columbus and Dayton area, which is arguably already more left-leaning (but not much moreso) than more rural areas, a la Zanesville.
I also wouldn’t expect Obama to have any influence beyond his own charisma in Iowa — I’m talking strictly old school northern midwest (i.e., not the Dakotas, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Idaho).
I like Bill Richardson; I think he would be a snazzy VP.
Come on people… no love for John Edwards??
nala, he kind of creeps me out. Although I do appreciate that he is really bringing poverty to the forefront in his campaign 🙂 I wonder if he will be a “sleeper candidate”? Don’t you think he seems a little plastic? There is something that never feels quite sincere about Edwards. This is, I’m sure, just a huge bias on my part.
No Ron Paul supporters here? – No Paulistinians?
There is something that never feels quite sincere about Edwards. This is, I’m sure, just a huge bias on my part.
It might be because he’s photogenic, photogenic men are always mistrusted. Also, a lot of doctors don’t like him because of his malpractice lawsuits, I’ve met doctors that would vote for david duke before they vote for edwards.
you meant paultards.
edwards’ resume indicates to me that he must be very smart given that he’s essentially self made, but i haven’t felt that he’s distinguished himself in his statements or senate record. what would be interesting to compare these people is by their concrete policies on healthcare, immigration etc, not just idle rhetoric. i would love to see some substantial analyses of their positions, instead of gotchas about driving licenses, ganging up, or similar nonsense.
um.. Jasmine, have you considered blogging? For all the holes in desi voice up here, you sure got enough to fill a convocation hall (in a good way). Write to your dill’s fill. I’ll drop in for sure.
I feel it, Camille 🙂 When Edwards’ wife was describing her cancer, at one point she said something like, well, if I go I go; John is serving our country-and he smiled and beamed and patted her arm, his whole visage directed at the cameras like a preening peahen. He plays that whole, aw shucks, I’m just a simple boy in a big bad world that may appeal to some, but it just makes me want to go.. oh, come on..
that’s sexist! you meant peacock 🙂
s it that out of place given his Robertson endorsement?
just for the record, pat robertson got into serious conflicts with his family (who were prominent) in the 1960s because of his pro-integration stance. this wasn’t typical for a southern white during that period, especially one from an establishment family. so say what you will, i doubt robertson is a racist.
khoofia, i’ve been a little reached.. but here’s a link to my old blog its not an issues blog at all, though- i was at school so i used to put these types of ideas into organizing on campus and writing papers 😉 thank you for the note of acclaim, though- having read your commentary, it means a lot coming from you (!!)
for a person who has no vote in this whole exercise – although I do have a stake – lots of love for ‘Johnno’ – aussie nickname for any bloke named John.
so say what you will, i doubt robertson is a racist.
He’s Hinduphobic though:
Remarks against Hindus Pat Robertson has been harshly criticized for his numerous insensitive and brash remarks towards the religion of Hinduism.
On March 23, 1995, Pat Robertson led a television program in which he attacked the religion of Hinduism. He called it “demonic” and said that Hindus should be barred from entering the United States. He said that they worship “idols” and “hundreds of millions of deities,” which “has put a nation in bondage to spiritual forces that have deceived many for thousands of years.” He spoke against the doctrines of karma and reincarnation.[63]
Later in his book The New World Order he wrote: “When I said during my presidential bid that I would bring only Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. ‘What do you mean?’ the media challenged me. ‘You’re not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?’ My simple answer is, ‘Yes, they are.'”[64]
These and other remarks were vociferously condemned by many Indian Americans.[65][66]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson
Check this out. The American Gangster just endorsed…Rudy:
[Two of the Harlem gangsters whose lives are the subject of the film “American Gangster” just gave their official endorsement to former US Attorney Rudy Giuliani. Explained convicted drug dealer Frank Lucas, “When Giuliani tells you something, he means it.”]