My cousin Manan, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 6th District of Pennsylvania, is in the home stretch. Every dollar counts at this point in his bid to upset the Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach.
This is the same Jim Gerlach who began race baiting earlier in the campaign:
Trivedi, who has already raised more than $390,00 dollars as a traditional candidate, in part by tapping a wealthy network of politically-minded Indian Americans in Pennsylvania, is now facing off against Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach (pictured above). Recently, Gerlach launched attacks against Trivedi, saying that he “doesn’t share our values.”
And whose values are those? One guess.
When concerns were raised that the Gerlach campaign’s statement could be perceived as playing on Trivedi’s ethnic differences compared to the average Pennsylvanian voter’s (85% of Pennsylvania’s residents are White), Gerlach dismissively said, “The only one who has played the race card here is him, by going to Indian-American groups to raise money.”
Wait, what?
The logic being used by Gerlach is that Trivedi shouldn’t lobby Indian-American groups, because (somehow) this is racist. [Link]
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p>And this is the same Gerlach who is making the number one issue in his Pennsylvania district…the New York City Mosque. You know, because Manan has brown skin so why not make that the central issue?
The headline of the news release was: “Despite Inquiries, Trivedi Silent for Over a Week on Mosque Issue.”
Mr. Trivedi is Hindu. “That’s what I put on my dog tags when I was in the Navy,” he often says. But supporters of Mr. Trivedi said the news release about the mosque was intended to suggest that Mr. Trivedi was Muslim, an assertion that the Gerlach campaign denied. [NYTimes]
So this is it. If you ever intended to donate your time as a volunteer or make a monetary contribution, now is the time as it is the end of the quarter filing deadline.
Best of luck to your cousin Manan.
Reasonable people can differ on the Islamic Cultral Center planned for near Ground Zero, but I fail to see why his being a desi should shield him from the debate. Manan took a position on the issue (a position of silence, apparently)–I don’t think he should be able to use his skin color to shield him from criticism–i.e., by saying that talking about his position implies that he’s a Muslim.
Here’s what I rec’d from Manan his morning. Good Luck !
$ 69,989 No, that’s not the attendance from the last Eagles game.
In the last week before our fundraising deadline (which ended last night) we asked you to help us raise $30,000 online. You beat that.
Then we asked you to keep the momentum going and help us get to $40,000. Well, you beat that too.
In fact, in the last week, you helped us raise $69,989 in online contributions alone. You are amazing.
And in case you missed it this week, we also received the endorsements of both the Reading Education Association and Sierra Club.
Thank you for building this campaign with me.
I will never forget it. Sincerely, Manan
Note by me: First they went after Obama – calling him a Muslim. Then they went after ……
Juvenile dudebro humor = hate crime now?
Why was I not told?
Manan’s opponent has consistently engaged in a covert racial campaign with little substance beyond the Tea Party agenda. Manan intends to pursue an ambitious agenda to bring growth-oriented economic opportunities to Montgomery county: green jobs, health care and infrastructure. Manan’s goal to leverage his contacts from the healthcare, military, DC and Asian communities is a worthwhile attempt… his opponent will continue to bring the same old agenda to benefit the select few in his circle. Manan brings energy and ideas.
It is ‘racist’ for the white contestant to speak to whites as whites, but it is not ‘racist’ for our brown contestant to speak to us as browns.
This is logical to whom?