Ed. Note: Last week, AAA-Fund hosted a lunch reception for AAA-Fund endorsees Edwin Chau and Ashwin Madia, who are running for Congress from California and Minnesota, respectively. Helen Tran penned her impressions of the candidates.
Last Tuesday at Gill’s Cuisine of India Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, Congressional candidates Edwin Chau (CA-42) and Ashwin Madia (MN-03) sat at the head of a long table facing potential southern Californian supporters, breaking naan and breaking face. Although from disparately different parts of the country with different strengths in their platforms, Chau and Madia both appeared as bright-eyed, idealistic Washington outsiders promising to end the War in Iraq, boost the economy, and care for middle-class America.
A proud Republican turned proud Democrat, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative and social liberal, Madia could very well be the youthful protégée of the 2004 John McCain. At 30 years old, Madia is already an Iraq War veteran after completing a stint in the Marines. Chau, a hero of a different kind, has been a champion for education as former school board president of the Montebello School District. Both run formidable Democratic tickets in traditionally Republican districts, and the candidates were quick to point out the historical significance of their victories.
Offering cautious answers to questions about their specific policies relating to a timeline for pulling out of the war, immigration reform, and gay marriage, Chau and Madia responded to loaded inquiries with earnestness and nervousness that hinted at their inexperience, but perhaps served well in conditioning them for larger national dialogue to come if elected. People at the lunch table seemed satisfied with the responses of the candidates who established themselves as loyal liberals, a feat accomplished even by Madia who had once campaigned for the GOP. Lunch remained platonic and as easygoing as elbow-to-elbow eating with strangers—however friendly—could be, until a reporter raised questions for Madia that challenged his Americanism.
Asked how he would address his Indian constituency’s sympathy for India regarding America’s opposition to the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, Madia faced a question that confounds APA candidates and their APA communities in gaining mainstream America’s trust. I was pleased by how Madia responded; appropriately, exposing the ignorance of racial understandings, Madia said that his constituents were Indian Americans, Indians whose home was now America and whose primary interests were vested in the security of their current home. Apparently, Madia’s background as a Marine officer was not enough to defend his patriotism and allegiance to the US. Either that or the authentic setting of the Indian restaurant somehow made obvious Madia’s strong secret ties to conspiracy in India.
The tense note upon which the lunch ended reiterated not just the vulnerabilities of novice candidates but also the struggle with claiming both ethnic identity and American commonality in white America. My mood right now: hopeful for Chau and Madia’s victories, but disappointed by assumptions made questioning their patriotism.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Congressional candidates Edwin Chau (CA-42) (top) and Ashwin Madia (MN-03) (bottom) speak at AAA-Fund lunch last Tuesday at Gill’s.
– Helen Tran
