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News and views from progressive Asian Pacific Americans participating in Democratic Party politics. To read about candidates endorsed by the AAA-Fund, visit the official AAA-Fund website. To help support this blog, please consider making a donation. Thank you!
AAA-Fund just scored an exclusive interview! A few days back AAA-Fund spoke with Gary Locke, the former Governor of Washington. The topic: why the Asian American community should support Barack Obama.
Locke, the first Asian American to be elected Governor in the mainland US, served from 1996 to 2004. Currently, Locke practices law in Seattle at the prestigious law firm of Davis, Wright Tremaine. Check out our exclusive interview with Gov. Locke:
– Gautam Dutta
What campaign? The strategy appears to be to ignore the state, except when it’s time to poach volunteers.
I’ve lost count of the number of Drive for Change emails I’ve received asking me to go to New Mexico or Ohio. I’m not the only member of the Texas blogosphere unhappy about this. KT is “less than enthusiastic” to find that going to New Mexico is the best way to help Obama’s Texas campaign. Vince is fuming:
Yeah, Democrats are critical of this because it is a stupid move. Texas has a lot of competitive races down-ballot. However, the Obama campaign simply has no regard for what we actually need in Texas, just as many Democrats predicted back in June.
Maybe Texas isn’t part of the Real America. The McCain campaign wants its Texas supporters in Colorado. But Obama is not just poaching from Texas. In California, the Obama campaign’s “Drive for Change” to Nevada is risking a loss on Prop 8.
I wish Barr had succeeded in his lawsuit. As much as I enjoyed voting for Obama Thursday, I’d rather see Texas’ electoral votes out of play for McCain. And with Obama ignoring Texas, what’s the point of having him on the ballot ether? Barr sought to remove Obama and McCain from the ballot because neither campaign met the deadline to be on the ballot. Barr lost, of course.
The campaigns’ lack of activity in the state hasn’t kept the newspapers from making endorsements. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram backs Obama. So does the Austin-American Statesman, which is a bit of a surprise. The American-Statesman is not representative of the Austin community and has been quite supportive of Bush. The Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express-News both endorsed McCain. The big surprise? The Houston Chronicle endorsed Obama, which astonished Kuff. This was the Chronicles’ first endorsement of a Democrat for President since LBJ in 1964.
- Justin Gillenwater
Police departments in major cities around the country are preparing for riots following the election, The Hill reports. Among the mentioned cities are Detroit, Chicago, Oakland, and Philadelphia. The police departments are equating the election to a major sports event, which can result in rioting, win or lose.
The conservative American Thinker describes the preparations as political extortion in a piece entitled “Vote Obama & Avoid Race Riots.”
And I thought the other side of the aisle liked when police protect them from scary black people.
- Justin Gillenwater
First McCain pretends he can be President. Now he pretends he can be a candidate !
Sen. John McCain called out for his new buddy Joe the Plumber to stand up at a rally in Ohio, only to be greeted with confused silence. Joe the Plumber wasn’t there:
The rally featured another embarrassing moment, one that illustrates a far more troubling dynamic for the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign had to bus in school kids from the surrounding area to fill the event.
A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.
- Cao Anh Quan
Harris County is on the verge of turning blue, like Dallas County did in 2006. Republicans are concerned.
The Houston Chronicle recently conducted a poll of Harris County, which found that voters in Harris County favor Obama by 7 and Noriega by 13. Kuff points out tha County Judge and District Attorney races were the only county races polled. The poll indicates Asian Americans will help Democrats win races in Harris County:
A combined minority turnout above 40 percent could add to the advantage for local Democratic contenders. Eight-five percent of blacks, 60 percent of Asian-Americans, 54 percent of Hispanics and 28 percent of non-Hispanic whites in the survey said they favor Democrats in county leadership elections.
Ten percent of the 602 voters surveyed said they registered to vote for the first time this year. The reason most often cited for registering now was “I recently turned 18,” the minimum voting age. And among those youngest new voters, the overwhelming majority were Democrat-leaning Hispanics and Asian Americans.
A reason cited less often for registering for the first time was, “I never paid attention to elections before this year.” This group strongly favored Republican candidates.
I wish the poll had included the District Clerk race, in which a Republican Asian American may become the first elected Asian American county-wide. While she is the incumbent, she was appointed – not elected. I wonder if she’ll survive the tax scandal her charitable foundation is facing.
Ed Emmett may well retain his position as County Judge. If Harris County goes blue but he stays in office, it will be because of Hurricane Ike. He had quite a bit of free air time, and he didn’t bungle the aftermath as poorly as those operating the state and national governments.
Emmett is not all rainbows and unicorns. He may have used county equipment for his campaign.
He also finally introduced an ethics plan for the county government with two weeks before the election. In their debate, Mincberg fiercely attacked Emmett.
Mincberg has some good ads:
This ad was surprising at first, but with a little more distance from Ike, quite good:
His radio jingle is a turn-off for me, but I’m not a fan of such music. At least the vocals aren’t as painful as they could be:
The race for Harris County Sheriff has taken a bizarre turn. Adrian Garcia, Houston City Councilman and endorsee of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Unions and Houston Chronicle, has been under attack for marijuana use in his youth. The ads were pulled; hopefully the damage will be blowback on his opponent.
Garcia needs to win. Thomas has turned over the Sheriff’s Office to ICE, which only serves to discourage civilian cooperation with police. And the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is the first local law enforcement agency in the nation with automatic fingerprint checking with the IDENT system, a massive database in the Department of Homeland Security, used to further connect ICE with the Sheriff’s Office.
Diane Trautman received the endorsement of the Chronicle in her race for Harris County Tax Assessor, which is also the voter registrar. This creates all sorts of problems when a Republican holds the office.
And don’t forget all the judges’ races. These are real judges, unlike the County Judge, who heads the Commissioners Court, which is an executive-legislative body like a Board of Supervisors. Bob Stein thinks the Democrats will pickup a number of seats on the bench.
- Justin Gillenwater
Two weeks ago, Obama and McCain appeared at the 63rd Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Hilarity ensued as the candidates roasted each other. If you haven’t seen them, watch:
I wonder who wrote McCain’s jokes. Clearly it was not his normal sense of humor.
- Justin Gillenwater
Wednesday night, several networks aired a pilot for a new program entitled, I think, “The Barack Obama Show.” You can watch it below.
I liked the program, but I hope there are a few changes. Obama’s office, for instance, should be more oval. I want the Barack Obama show picked up; I don’t have anything for the DVR to record in that time slot. I just hope the part of Barack Obama is not recast.
- Justin Gillenwater
Michael Skelly is locked in the most exciting Congressional race in Texas with the horrible, useless Culberson. This race for TX-7 was added to the Red-to-Blue list in early September. Skelly scored the Chronicle’s endorsement and has support from previous Culberson lackeys. Burnt Orange Report rates the race “Lean Culberson,” which is about right when the polls have consistently shown Skelly within single digits, but outside the margin of error. Skelly, however, has again outraised Culberson, even pulling in $30,000 in one day.
Skelly has spent his money on a number of ads:
From mid-August:
End-of-September:
A week ago:
Yesterday:
I think it’s brilliant that Skelly is using McCain against the pro-earmark Culberson brags of his fiscal conservative credentials, but supports the vast increase in military spending this decade. He also has a 0 rating from the League of Conservation Voters. Out of 100. Culberson also voted against an investigation of Abramoff.
And what does Culberson use against Skelly? Ads full of lies:
To learn more about the race, listen to Kuff’s interview with Skelly.
- Justin Gillenwater
Bell is in a bizarre special election to fill SD-17. In this six-person race, there is significant infighting among the Republicans vying to keep SD-17.
Both Burnt Orange Report and Capitol Annex rate the race Lean Democratic. I haven’t seen any recent polls, but a poll towards the end of August had Bell at 42%. Not bad for a 6-person race, and better than he fared in his 4-person race for governor in 2006. I presume Bubba’s stumping has helped.
Some Bell ads:
To learn more about the race, listen to Kuff’s audio interview or Matt Glazer’s video interview with Bell.
Bell’s race is a special election, so it appears before the general election on the ballot. Here’s AAA-Fund Honorary Board Member Al Green urging support for Bell, whom he beat in the 2004 Congressional primary after the DeLay-engineered redistricting:
If Bell does not receive a majority of votes, he’ll be headed for a run-off. It’s a shame that didn’t happen in the gubernatorial race.
- Justin Gillenwater
Political reform alert! If you live in the Bay Area and are free on All Hallow’s morning, come hear why prominent Asian American leaders support California Proposition 11, which help make the Golden State’s elections more competitive. AAA-Fund of Southern California strongly supports Prop 11.
Media Contact: Molly Weedn
October 30, 2008 415-209-4217
API Community Leaders Join Together in San Francisco to Urge Californians to Vote YES on Proposition 11
San Francisco- League of Women Voters of California President Janis Hirohama, California Common Cause Executive Director Kathay Feng, Former U.S Commissioner on Civil Rights and founding member of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Redistricting Yvonne Lee, Executive Director, Asian American Action Fund Executive Director Gautam Dutta and San Jose Councilmember Kansen Chu will join together in San Francisco to urge Californian’s to vote yes on Proposition 11.
Under the current system, Legislators have the power to draw their own districts and in the process guarantee their own reelection no matter what they do, or don’t do while in office. Currently, communities like Koreatown in Los Angeles and areas of the Silicon Valley are divided into as many as four different legislative districts. Proposition 11 would restore the voice to those communities that have been split up at the expense of voters to protect incumbent legislators.
San Francisco, Ca 94104
About Prop. 11
Prop. 11 will take away legislators power to draw their own district lines so they can guarantee their own reelection – whether they do their jobs or not! Prop. 11 will let an independent citizen’s commission draw fair district lines so we can hold politicians accountable and vote them out when they put special interest needs before those of voters.
I came back to Houston last night so I could vote today. It’s my second presidential race, but my voting record would show it my first. My absentee ballot was thrown out four years ago because the signatures “didn’t match.” Yeah, right. That’s why I’m back in Houston – I don’t do absentee ballots anymore.
The lines are long. At 3 PM in suburban Houston, the line was an hour and a half long. Or so my friend, Sherrie Matula, who is running for Texas HD-129, told me. She and Martin Siegel were the only candidates at the location, passing out handbills. Sherrie was suggesting voters not wanting to wait so long go to the next closest early voting location. I went there. The wait was about 30 minutes.
I usually don’t take pleasure in voting, but this time was different. Voting usually feels like a chore to me. That doesn’t mean I avoid it. It’s a vital chore, not unlike doing one’s laundry. Not voting is like never washing one’s underwear.
This time was different. As I selected Obama on the eSlate, a large smile formed on my face. I don’t smile often. The smile remained as I selected additional candidates, including AAA-Fund endorsee Rick Noriega. I continued to smile as I drove off.
Voting in this election wasn’t like washing my underwear. Instead, it was quite fulfilling, like rare quality time with my best friend.
- Justin Gillenwater
Republicans are frightened AAA-Fund endorsee Ashwin Madia will win. They’re dumping $850,000 into the race. What are they doing this time? Making Madia darker:
The Republican reaction is amazing. They seem to be proud of their actions:
“It is a very sharp contrast,” Ron Carey, the state’s GOP Chairman, said recently in a press conference. “Erik Paulson fits the district very well. People have to draw their own conclusions but Erik Paulson is a very good fit from a philosophical standpoint and a lifestyle standpoint for the third district.”
Despicable.
- Justin Gillenwater
I don’t buy this “traditional Republican state” label that the mainstream media applies to West Virginia. It voted for Clinton both times. What’s more, it was a Dukakis state and went against Reagan in 1980. Both its senators are Democrats, with the junior senator having served since 1985. And let’s not forget West Virginia supported Kennedy — in the primary.
Obama may well win West Virginia. A poll released last week has him down by only one. Both sides are increasing spending in the state. And Bubba today campaigned for Obama in Beckley.
Last Friday, Biden swung though Charleston. A VIP who greeted Biden upon his arrival told me Biden’s kindness and genuineness shone through. West Virginia Blue has some great videos from the rally. Watch part of Biden’s speech:
Obama should, like Kennedy, come make a speech in St. Albans.
- Justin Gillenwater
So many elderly are change adverse. I’m moved that this man is working so hard for change – for the future.
I hope there’s a video of Charles’ reaction when That One wins.
- Justin Gillenwater
How bad are things going for McCain? So bad that he’s now afraid of losing his home state!
Amazingly, polls now show Obama within two points of McCain in ruby-red Arizona — forcing McCain to run robocalls on his home turf (via TPM):
Obama may well be headed to an Electoral College landslide.
– Gautam Dutta
