In the last few days before the election, I wanted to revisit each campaign’s efforts to reach out the desi voters.
Indians for McCain has new material on their website, including a “Candidate Comparison On Indian-Americans” (sic) which forms an interesting contrast to South Asians for Obama‘s “Barack Obama: Working for South Asian Americans
” and Obama vs. McCain Comparison Sheet handouts. The differences between the two websites recapitulate both differences between the campaigns but also differences within our community.
The difference in group names reveals their important differences in their attitudes. Indians for McCain is focussed both on Indo-Americans and on India’s relationship to America. Their candidate comparison covers only American foreign policy towards India, contrasting the candidates efforts on these three topics:
- On doing business with India
- On the US-India Civil Nuclear Deal
- On the U.S. pushing the G8 to include India
This is material designed to appeal to voters who are first generation immigrants, for whom issues of America’s treatment of India are paramount.
[There is also a group called SouthAsians for McCain but they have less material on their website and they are really an Indian-American group. Their banner includes the Indian flag and map, and they have an extensive section on McCain’s views on Indo-American relations which is exerpted from the Indian Express article on this topic]
SAFO’s approach instead stresses Asian American issues broadly. Their candidate comparison sheet is actually the campaign’s generic comparison sheet on all AAPI issues, covering topics such as college costs, immigration, minority health services, and compensation for Japanese American internment during WWII.
This handout is available in Hindi and Urdu, which is an odd choice since I doubt recent non-English speaking immigrants will see themselves as enough part of the Asian American community to care about the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007.
Their other handout, “Barack Obama: Working for South Asian Americans“, is a bit more tailored to desi voters but still emphasizes broader issues affecting all Americans. It covers the following headings:
- Economy
- Equal Rights
- Immigration
- Foreign Policy
- Health Care
- Education
Each section includes some information specifically designed to appeal specifically to South Asian voters, but particularistic appeals are a minority of the total material presented. Even the section on Foreign Policy starts by discussing the war in Iraq before moving on to promises to both strengthen relations with India and strengthen relations with Pakistan. When making domestic appeals to brown voters, they focus on issues of broad interest to South Asian Americans in general, rather than Indo-Americans or Pakistani-Americans specifically.
The big difference here seems to be generational. The McCain groups seem to be run by older, first generation, business types while the Obama group involves younger, second generation types. Honestly, if the GOP wants to reduce its deficit in the desi community, they’re going to have to step up.
Only a few of the many related posts: SAFO, DNC Day 2: Hrishi Karthikeyan, Founder of SAFO, SAFM-It’s been brung,Notes from the RNC, Post 3: Indo-Americans for McCain
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I don’t think fast and solid demarcations b/w “Indians” and “South Asians” or even “Ist gens” v. “2nd gens” are particularly helpful. Most people probably vote along a spectrum – at one extreme you may have singe issue India voters, and, at the other, you have those who are not concerned about India at all. But the large middle is likely occupied by people who care about India to some degree, though its probably not their most important concern. In the shift towards the left in the days ahead, I think its very important to keep in mind that free market policy did contribute to lifting many, many people in the Third World, particularly in Asia, out of poverty. When looking at the world from a global perspective, that should matter, imo.
South Asians for Obama is largely Indian as well despite the best efforts of its organizers to find common ground. It’s a fickle union, most religiously observant Pakistanis/Bangladeshis will return to the GOP (they supported Dubya in 2000)once the world settles down. Obama’s carrot (i.e. aid to civil society, health & schools) and stick (i.e. hot pursuit of jiadis into Pakistani territory) is a hard pill to swallow for some. The narrative that many young Pakistani-Americans have chosen to adopt is that the radicalization of their society is entirely the fault of the US so they resent the “stick”. While I reject the “South Asian” label and thank Dubya for the Indian nuke deal, I prefer Obama because I think that the “carrot” will make Pakistan a better neighbor over the long run. Especially considering the GOP can’t resist making $$$ selling the Pakistanis gear that will never be used in the WoT.
My love is like the juicy red apple. crunchy and oh so perfect. i am in bliss.
My love is like the watercolor of an apple. dreamy, wistful but not quite real. i wish it were true.
My love is like a dusty cardboard apple. what the fuck do i do with a fake apple? die bitch die.
moral: poop by another name smells just as nasty but it’s important to be regular. so eat your fiber and drop your votebombs you pretty people you.
You’re assuming that the two terms are synonyms, or terms that vary only in terms of their emphasis on America. The starker difference between the terms is that one excludes Pakistani-Americans, Bangladeshi-Americans, Sri Lankan-Americans, etc. The two GOP groups have written off non-Indians in their message.
The two GOP groups have written off non-Indians in their message.
Yes. But, according to Razib, the other sub-groups comprise a grand total of 10% of South Asians – perhaps its a messaging decision. If anything, Obama has been much tougher on Pakistan than the GOP, though the GOP is far tougher on “radical Islam.”
Agree with Ennis at #4. Words matter.
i am against identity politics – and would much rather see buttons saying obama/mccain for america – but when this whole campaign is about a giant schvingg vote, a leaf on or off the cabbage wont make any difference. here’s a more articulate view point.
i see dark clowns in the horizon. it’s hysterical.
Racism: You get penalized for not being white Against identify politics: nobody should be penalized for not being white but everybody should be treated as if they were white. So you HAVE to take Sunday off even if you don’t want it, and you don’t get to take any other time off, even if you do. etc. It also ignores the fact that we’re not on a level playing field. So no efforts are made to correct racism, because that means putting “special” efforts for one group and not another. etc.
Khoof – I’m with you on the dark clowns, and I personally thought Richard Pryor was hysterial, but you and I don’t see I-to-I with I and I on this matter.
it isnt racism if one is open with one’s fears and apprehensiion and open to dialog. governance should be around delivering an equitable environment that safeguards the interests of all, and not about knowing the secret handshakes for every club in town. anyway – the republicans have bungled their outreach – no question about that. but the system is self-correcting. shall hope the let down is not too hard.
Actually I came across an interesting news which highlights an equally important (prob more) as choosing Obama or McCain. You have got only one day to make up your mind if you have not thought or heard about it before. There is going to be mini referendum on so called state propositions (156 totally) or ballot initiatives on a whole gamut of socio-economic issues in 36 states. Some of them are common to the debate issues amongst the presidential candidates but many propositions give the decisions to people at local/state level.
Here is a link to listing of various state propositions on which people will have to vote in 36 states.