Democratic Candidate for Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to Host Virginia Asian Pacific American Community Leaders at Campaign Headquarters

January 29, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

The below represents only the sentiments of the AAA Fund Blogteam and not that of the AAA Fund, our parent organization, itself. We encourage all DC and MD AAPI’s to volunteer for the campaign and to attend as support. Terry McAuliffe supported AAPI’s throughout his career. This post is a re-posting of his media advisory.

Media Advisory
29 January 2013
CONTACT
Jennifer Oh | 571.225.1930 | daavmedia@gmail.com
Josh Schwerin | 318.369.5469 | Josh@TerryMcAuliffe.com

Democratic Candidate for Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to Host Virginia Asian Pacific American Community Leaders at Campaign Headquarters

February 4, 7:00-8:30PM
1601 N Kent St Suite 100, Arlington (Rosslyn), VA
Near Rosslyn Metro

Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Terry McAuliffe has a life long record of championing diversity. To kick off his Asian Pacific American outreach campaign, Terry is hosting community leaders at his headquarters in Rosslyn. McAuliffe believes that the next Governor should work to give every family the opportunity to start their own business and get a good education.

“I am honored to have the support of so many from the Virginia Asian American Community. Bringing jobs to Virginia, keeping our education system strong and making it easier to start a successful small business are priorities we all share. I look forward to this meeting so we can have an even stronger campaign for winning in November and make Virginia an even better place for achieving the American Dream.”

Candidate McAuliffe will outline his goals for his campaign and administration once elected. He will be available to the media for interviews. Also invited to attend are Virginia Democratic Elected Officials of APA heritage: U.S. Representative Bobby Scott, Virginia State Delegate Mark Keam, Fairfax School Board Member Ilryong Moon, Herndon Council Member Grace Han Wolf and Manassas Park Council Member Suhas Naddoni .

How to attend
Members of the Press wishing to attend should contact Jennifer Oh, Communications Coordinator for the Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia at daavmedia@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Running for Office, The Editors, Virginia

Election 2012 Update

November 7, 2012 By Richard Chen Leave a Comment

We congratulate all incoming Senators and Members of Congress:

Mazie Hirono (HI)
Tim Kaine (VA)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Grace Meng (NY-06)
Mark Takano (CA-41)

won 57% to 43%
Rob Bonta (CA-AD18)

winning 51%-49%

Too close to call

Dr. Ami Bera (CA-07)

Lungren won’t concede but ; pray for no inquiry but we’ll see as the recount occurs

We cannot say a huge enough thanks to everyone. Special congratulations and elated delight to AAAF of Greater Chicago whose numerous months long phone banking, website editing, email forwarding, logistical organizing, people pulling & generally good cheer & energy for the easy-to-volunteer events, sharing their many delights and overall pulling so many for so many critical last minute get out the vote all for Tammy Duckworth has given us such a brilliant example of an effective grassroot campaign.

These Congressmen & Congresswomen represent the largest caucus of Asian American and Pacific Islander Members in any single Congressional session as well as other records:

Hirono – first Asian American woman and first Buddhist to serve in the U.S. Senate
Duckworth, Meng – first Asian Americans to represent their states IL and NY respectively
Gabbard – first Hindu American in US Congress, first Samoan American elected as a voting member of Congress
Takano – first openly gay minority Member of Congress

We are thrilled not only to share in the delights of our elected officials above but also to our other endorsed candidates:

Nate Shinagawa (NY-23) – lost by only 50% to Tom Reed’s 52%
Jay Chen – lost 40% to Ed Royce’s 59%
Manan Trivedi – lost along with Upendra Chivukula and Syed Taj
Dr. Jennifer Ong (CA-AD20) – trailing 48% to Bill Quirk’s 52%
Otto Lee (CA-22) – trailing 36% to Devin Nunes’ 64%

Lastly, just seen on the ED Show on MSNBC:

Demographic groups	Voted for Obama	Voted for Romney
Whites	39%	59%
Black	93%	6%
Latino	71%	27%
Asian	73%	26%

Thank you to all!

Update Nov 12: Our Dr. Ami Bera is leading!

Update Nov 17: Bera Wins!

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, 2012 Presidential, AAA Fund, California, Hawai'i, Illinois, New York, Virginia

Just Vote

November 6, 2012 By gautam 1 Comment

Election 2012 is here, and now it all comes down to you.

No matter which state you live in, your vote will make a huge difference: whether for the White House, for Congress, or for your state or local area.

Will President Obama get a second term to finish all the good work that he has started? Should California get rid of the death penalty (Proposition 34)? Should a leader (Tim Kaine) who has reached out to Americans of all backgrounds be elected to the U.S. Senate? Or should a politician (George Allen) who openly attacked Asian Americans be elected instead?

These are only some of the choices on the ballot tomorrow.

Make sure others don’t speak for you. If you haven’t already done so, please vote.

– Gautam Dutta

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, 2012 Presidential, California, Civil Rights/Liberties, Congress, Culture, Democratic Party, Demographics, Gautam Dutta, Grassroots Activism, Obama Administration, Political Reform, Social Justice, Virginia

Don’t Buy the Hype

October 25, 2012 By Theo Chen Leave a Comment

With less than 2 weeks to go until Election Day, media talking heads are saying the presidential race is “very close” or “tied.” From a national poll perspective, such statements are true. But from the electoral college perspective (which of course is the only one that matters), they are blatantly false.

While Romney certainly could pull the upset, despite media reports to the contrary, Obama is a heavy favorite to win re-election. Consider: Electoral Map The electoral map strongly favors Obama. He already has in the bank many more electoral votes than Romney. As far as the battleground states, with the lone exception of North Carolina, Obama has led or been tied in every one since early summer. He currently leads in Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Winning these 7 states give Obama 281 electoral votes, 11 more than he needs to win. In fact, he could afford to lose New Hampshire and either Iowa or Nevada and still win re-election with 271.

Furthermore, Obama is tied in Colorado, Florida and Virginia — losing any one of these 3 states would be fatal for Romney. Even in North Carolina, Obama trails only slightly. If he wins there, it’s a near-2008 blowout.

Romney’s Momentum Stopped

The Romney campaign obviously wants to create a winning self-fulfilling prophecy. Romney clearly won the first debate with Obama, significantly closed the gap and got back in the game. Had Romney lost that debate, the race would have been over. However, Obama won the next 2 debates. The Romney camp keeps babbling about momentum they lost lost long ago. By definition, polls are snapshots of the RECENT PAST, not the PRESENT.

Media Bias

The media has an incentive to say the race is close because it’s exciting. It means higher TV ratings and readership. The media also can be lazy. It’s easier to report on one meaningless national poll than on several state polls where the race will be decided.

Obama’s Ground Game Romney backers claim that they’ve learned from 2008 and have a much better ground game. They probably do — but that’s because the McCain campaign’s ground game stunk.

But even the most optimistic Republicans admit that Obama’s operation is formidable. Most neutral observers think Obama’s ground game is superior than Romney’s, it’s only the degree that’s in question. Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia are frequently cited as the states where Obama has the biggest advantage in this department.

Early Voting

Related to the ground game is the early voting already taking place in many battleground states. Every day in states where polls are open and Obama is leading means that he is winning, because he’s banking votes that Romney will have to make up on Election Day. By all accounts early voting is going very well for Obama, including in the most critical state of Ohio.

Colin Powell

Obama just scored the biggest endorsement of the election season with Colin Powell. Powell, although he endorsed Obama in 2008, would have surprised few had he remained neutral or endorsed fellow Republican Mitt Romney. While there are only a tiny sliver of undecided voters left, and endorsements may not sway that many, you can bet that Romney would have given one of his dancing horses to get Powell’s backing.

Richard Mourdock

Just when Republicans thought Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin was in the rearview mirror, along came Richard Mourdock to reinforce the perception (or reality) that Republicans are at war with women’s rights. You would think that after Akin, any Republican running for U.S. Senate, particularly in a tight race, would avoid using the four-letter R word. Oops. Romney, who not only endorsed Mourdock but cut a TV commercial for him, half-heartedly distanced himself from Mourdock and refused to ask that the TV spot be pulled. The timing couldn’t be worse for Romney.

Again, it’s not over until it’s over, but anyone discouraged about Obama’s chances shouldn’t be. Barring some huge late October or early November surprise, or serious voter suppression and/or fraud, Obama is on the path to victory. But he still needs your vote, your donations and your volunteering in a swing state.

Filed Under: 2012 Presidential, Florida, Grassroots Activism, Nevada, Obama Administration, Pennsylvania, Republican Party, Running for Office, Teddy Chen, Virginia

Question of the Week: Who’s Reaching out to AAPIs?

September 26, 2012 By gautam Leave a Comment

Asian Americans could swing the vote in battleground states like Nevada and Virginia. How aggressively are the Obama and Romney campaigns reaching out to Asian Americans?

– Gautam Dutta

Filed Under: 2012 Presidential, Gautam Dutta, Grassroots Activism, Nevada, Social Justice, Virginia, Voting Rights

Who Picks & Who Pays

July 18, 2012 By Justin Leave a Comment

We know American politics is quite bizarre, but Paul Begala’s one-paragraph distillation of how we pick the president highlights that bizarreness on a level rarely seen outside the realms of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert:

I did the math so you won’t have to. Four percent of the presidential vote in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, and Colorado is 916,643 people. That’s it. The American president will be selected by fewer than half the number of people who paid to get into a Houston Astros home game last year — and my beloved Astros sucked last year; they were the worst team in baseball. Put another way, there are about as many people in San Jose as there are swing voters who will decide this election. That’s not even as many people as attended Puerto Rican cockfights in the past year — although there are obvious similarities.

And Lawrence Lessig notes what a small part of our country’s population pays for our elections:

A tiny number of Americans — .26 percent — give more than $200 to a congressional campaign. .05 percent give the maximum amount to any congressional candidate. .01 percent give more than $10,000 in any election cycle. And .000063 percent — 196 Americans — have given more than 80 percent of the super-PAC money spent in the presidential elections so far.

What do you think of this situation? How would you like to see it reformed? National popular vote? Publicly financed campaigns? Other ideas? Let us know in the comments.

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, 2012 Presidential, Florida, Grassroots Activism, Justin Gillenwater, Political Reform, Running for Office, Texas, Virginia, Voting Rights

Fmr Sen. George Allen makes up endorsements, pisses off Tea Party

December 1, 2011 By Caroline Leave a Comment

Former VA Governor George Allen, who single-handedly made the word “macaca” famous, is running an inventive campaign for US Senate. So inventive, in fact, that he’s making up campaign endorsements (h/t Wonkette.)

And while Democrats will have a field day with the news, it’s Tea Party activists who are really pissed. Take Kerry Scott, a TP activist who was surprised to learn that she had endorsed Allen on a press release called “Virginia Tea Party Patriots Endorse George Allen for U.S. Senate.” The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the scoop:

“I don’t know where that list was generated or who put it together,” she said, noting that she immediately called Allen’s campaign and had her name removed from the list on Allen’s website.

In fact, Scott was already spoken for – by one of Allen’s rivals for the GOP nomination. For months, Scott has been on an endorsement list for Jamie Radtke, a Chesterfield County tea party activist.

She noted that Allen’s release also had the name of her tea party organization wrong.

“They aligned me with NOVA Tea Party, which doesn’t even exist,” she said. “To me, it was just very sloppy, and that made me a little suspicious.”

This isn’t the only incident of “creative endorsement enhancement” though – the campaign has had to scrub 3 other names off the website since they put out the release.

Allen has pissed off local Tea Partiers, far and abroad.

The Roanoke Tea Party posted a scathing blog post on the endorsements, noting that the original list included someone listed as a member of its group named Jim Fields.

“That was a bit of a surprise,” a post on the group’s page says, explaining that Jim Fields isn’t a member of the organization, just a “friendly and gregarious man who loves to hand out U.S. flags at public events.”

… The Northern Virginia Tea Party has also called for an apology from Allen, saying that the endorsement announcement was “misleading at best, dishonest at worst” and calling it a “deplorable campaign tactic.”

The weirdest part is that Allen is the frontrunner for the GOP primary. But hey, that wouldn’t be the first time he’s snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. At least this time he didn’t use an obscure racist slur that immediately captivated the nation’s attention. He just managed to piss off his base in an extremely important race during a presidential cycle. Good work!

-Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, Virginia

Elections results

November 8, 2011 By Caroline Leave a Comment

Here are the races I’m following and the sites I’m checking tonight:

1) AAA Fund-endorsed educator Suzanne Lee for City Council
Boston Unofficial Elections results

Update 1: With 52% in, Suzanne Lee is LEADING incumbent Bill Linehan 55%-45%. Very exciting!

Update 2: 70% of vote in, an Lee’s lead has shrunk to 51-49. It would be quite a feat to defeat a sitting councilman.

Update 3: Lee’s lead is now 10 votes. Who says local elections aren’t exciting?

Update 4: 85% in ans Suzanne is maintaining a narrow lead by 1%.

Update 5: Final results in for Boston district 2:

DISTRICT 2 COUNCILLOR
	Total
Number of Precincts	27
Precincts Reporting	27	100.0 %
Vote For	1
Times Counted	10538/48182	21.9 %
Total Votes	10084
Number of Uncast Votes	454

BILL LINEHAN	5065	50.23%
SUZANNE LEE	4978	49.37%
Write-in Votes	41	0.41%

2) Ohio’s No on 2 initiative against SB 5, a heinously anti-worker bill that strips public employees like teachers, firefighters, and EMT workers of their right to bargain collectively.
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Update: Issue 2 looks like it is headed for solid defeat, a good day for unions and working families. GOP legislatures and Governors should read this as voters telling them that they have gone too far.

3) New Jersey state legislative races in LD 14 and LD 38. These districts should have a high APA turnout.
NJ Board of Elections NJ.com for news coverage

Update 1: In LD 38, Democratic incumbent Gordon is edging Driscoll. Can’t wait to see exit polls!

Update 2: in the tightest race in NJ, GOP state sen candidate Driscoll concedes to Gordon.

Update 3: Democratic incumbent Linda Greenstein keeps her state sen seat in SD 14.

4) Virginia state legislative races. APAs are a big part of the voter universe here, and can play a key role as the swing vote in several elections including that of Sen. Dave Marsden (SD 37) which covers APA dense areas like Centreville and AAAFund’s very own Mark Keam.
VA Board of Elections

Update 1: Early returns seem close in VA Sen 37 with Marsden just trailing Flannery by 211 votes and 12% reporting.

Update 2: Marsden within 5 votes with 14% in.

Update 3: Marsden takes lead, 52-48 with 28% reporting.

Update 4: Marsden widening lead to almost 700 votes.

Update 5: Mark Keam had no opposition, and thus over 99% of votes.

Update 6: Marsden up by 1300 votes.

Update 7: With 67% in, Marsden is at 54-46.

Update 8: All votes in and Mardsen has won by 2705 votes.

And if you haven’t gone to vote yet, it’s not too late – polls in most places close at 8pm. If you don’t know where your poll site is, go here to find out.

Overall, a good night for Dems and progressives, as Mississippi votes against personhood, and voters find the GOP has overreached. Republicans in Michigan and New Jersey should listen the way Ohio Gov. Kasich claims he is listening to the will of the voters.

A bonus two races: SF Mayoral & recall of AZ state senator Russell Pearce. thankfully, infamous anti-immigrant Republican Russell Pearce is trailing political novice Jerry Lewis in a recall election.

SF mayoral: With 14% of votes cast, Ed Lee holds a 40% advantage, not quite yet 50% + 1 which would avoid the ranked choice voting scenario. Now with 59% in, Ed Lee’s count has fallen to 33%.

-Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, AAA Fund, Caroline, Virginia

Young Professionals Happy Hour for Delegate Mark Keam

July 23, 2011 By Liz Leave a Comment

For those in the DC area, we invite you to join us for a young professionals happy hour in support of Delegate Mark Keam on Monday, July 25th. Additional information is here and below. Hope to see you there!

OPEN BAR Reception
with Music by Kryogen [Nü Entertainment]

Monday, July 25, 2011
K Street Lounge
1301 K St., NW, Washington, DC
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Asian American Action Group • Fairfax County Young Democrats • George Mason University Young Democrats • Northern Virginia Community College Young Democrats • Irene Lin • Tait Sye • Oliver Kim • Gloria Chan • Hung Nguyen and other Friends of Mark invite you

Young Professionals Reception
to Support the Reelection of
Delegate Mark Keam
35th District, VA House of Delegates

With special guest: Frank Anderson, Newly Appointed Executive Director of Fairfax
County Democratic Committee

Suggested Contribution Levels

$250 Host • $100 Sponsor • $50 Young Professional/Young Democrat
$25 College Democrat or Valid Student ID

There are no contribution limits in Virginia – a political candidate can accept any amount of campaign donations from any individual, corporation, union, association or partnership. Federal law prohibits contributions from a foreign national or foreign corporation but allows U.S. citizens and valid green card holders to participate. Contributions are not tax deductible for Federal or State tax purposes.

Contributions can be made at www.markkeam.com or complete and return the attached form with a check to:
Keam for Delegate, P.O. Box 1134, Vienna, VA 22183-1134.

To RSVP please contact Julia Kim at Julia@MarkKeam.com, 703-350-7377, or on the event
page at www.facebook.com/DelegateMarkKeam

www.MarkKeam.com
@MarkKeam
facebook.com/DelegateMarkKeam
Paid for and authorized by Keam

Filed Under: Democratic Party, Running for Office, Virginia

Asian Americans as a "Cultural Blessing"

July 18, 2011 By Liz Leave a Comment

There’s a nice little fluff piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Asian Americans and cultural diversity.

Central Virginia’s population of Asian Americans grew and diversified. The eateries catered to immigrant communities and to longtime residents. The Asian American presence has profited the region in many ways. Asian Americans have won recognition as entrepreneurs. They express their gratitude for their country of choice.

…

Asian Americans contribute to Metro Richmond’s understanding of a vast area that plays an increasingly important role in the global economy.

Great to see a local paper recognizing and embracing Asian Americans and their contributions to the community.

Filed Under: Liz Wu, Virginia