As usual, I’ve been keeping an eye out for desis in politics here in the U.S. Just over a month ago I read that Kamil Hasan had been appointed as a Member-at-Large of the Democratic Party by DNC chairman Howard Dean. There wasn’t too much about him at the time but today the San Jose Mercury News features him:

Kamil Hasan of Saratoga has a new job: collecting serious cash from the Indo-American community for the Democratic National Committee.

That job may not be as powerful as senator or congressman. But for the Bay Area’s roughly 155,000 Indo-American community members, Hasan’s appointment represents another step the well-educated, affluent immigrant group is taking to gain political clout. His goal is to raise at least $5 million through a newly formed Indian fundraising council in time for the next presidential election.

What’s most important, community members said, is that the appointment isn’t just about Hasan: It’s about the voice of the entire Indo-American community, about 2 million strong.

“It’s basically a seat at the table,” Hasan said in an interview at Hitek Venture Partners in Mountain View, a company he founded in 1995 that funds about 30 high-tech start-ups. “It’s a clear acknowledgment that the Indo-American community has made major contributions. We want to make a major impact on where this country should go, and to be involved as a player.”

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p>A couple of things. First, is this really about the entire Indo-American community as Hasan believes? I don’t think so. This is about money and the members of the community that have it.

Kamil and Talat Hasan have long been leaders in the Indo-American community, where Hasan is known as a nice guy who plays golf at the Saratoga Country Club and a father who is strict about once-a-week family dinners with his daughters, Minal, 24, and Saima, 20. Hasan was born into a privileged family in Aligarh, India, in 1944. His father was a wealthy landowner. He came to the United States in 1968 to study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology….

“This is important because this says to the community, ‘We value you,’ ” he said. “And it’s a smart thing for the politicians to do, because this expands their base. And as we all know, this is a community with a lot of money.”

Those are two separate things. Valuing one’s money is a lot different than valuing the “community.” Or perhaps they are no longer separate things in contemporary American politics. Of course, Hasan also recognizes that he may have a problem herding cats:

The challenge for Hasan is to be the voice for a community whose members hail from one of the most diverse countries in the world. It’s not clear how many Indo-Americans are Republicans or Democrats, though Hasan is trying to figure that out. He estimates the breakdown is about 70 percent Democrats, 30 percent Republicans. Even within their own party, many Indo-Americans support different candidates for governor. Others disagree on whether to invest in local or national politics.

Also, on a somewhat related note, in case any of you missed Saheli’s tip on our news page, the New York Times had an article about the Congressional primary race in Sugarland, TX where Tom Delay is seeking re-election. The article included the following passage:

But if the primary is a referendum on Mr. DeLay, the lines are not always easy to discern in Sugar Land, the fastest-growing Texas city. The population has tripled since 1990 to 75,000, pacing the rest of the district, which includes the Johnson Space Center and is the very image, some say, of 21st-century America.

Out of its new shopping malls and apartment villages swelled by immigrants from India, China, Vietnam and the Middle East comes the first concrete evidence of the degree to which Mr. DeLay’s problems have imperiled his career and undermined his party.

“I voted for Tom DeLay before, but definitely not this time because of all the problems we’ve seen,” said Amani Escandon, an antique furniture dealer from Egypt, who was buttonholed by Mr. Campbell the other day as she pushed a cart into a supermarket.

But Denish Shah, an Indian-American commercial real estate developer and member of the nonpartisan Indo American Political Action Committee of Greater Houston, called himself a strong supporter of Mr. DeLay and said he was rallying friends on the congressman’s behalf. Mr. Shah said he knew of Mr. DeLay’s problems but was suspending judgment.

I am glad that Mr. Denish Shah has an opinion about this race, but why did the Times bother to quote him? Who the hell cares what Mr. Shah thinks? Did they quote him simply because he is Indian-American or because the Indo American Political Action Committee of Greater Houston supports Delay. This PAC did support Democrat Jay Aiyer, but according to Open Secrets.org they haven’t given a dime to Delay. Denish Shah hasn’t given to Delay either according to OpenSecrets (however, a Dinesh Shah has given a couple grand). Should the Times have identified this guy as a member of the Indo American Political Action Committee of Greater Houston in that case? The article makes it appear as though Houston Indians support Delay. Who might these “friends” be that Shah is referring to. I just feel like that’s misleading reporting and if I were part of the PAC I’d issue a clarification.