Washington, DC: Even as both the leading political parties in the United States are wooing the influential Asian American community and seeking to win their trust and votes, Democratic Party’s leading presidential contender, Hillary Clinton has promised to appoint more members of the Asian community in her administration, is she were to win the White House in the upcoming Presidential elections to be held on November 8th this year. “I want to let you know that I will make sure that you are well represented in my administration if I am fortunate enough to be your president,” Clinton said, according to news reports.
In a video snippet of her speech on the Web, the presidential hopeful urged the enthusiastic audience which shouted her name repeatedly, that they needed to join her campaign, adding, “I want you to be involved not just in my campaign, but more importantly, really governing our country in a way that keeps alive the promise of America,”
Indian Americans have been nominated to several key position under the current Obama administration as never been before. Urging them to be more politically active, President Obama praised the Asian community in his keynote address, and took credit for hiring more Asian-Americans than any past administration. “You’re part of the lifeblood of this nation. You are our teachers and our faith leaders, our doctors, our caretakers, our artists, our shopkeepers, our police officers and firefighters,” Obama said. “You are our soldiers and our sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, defending our freedom every day. And, increasingly, you are a powerful, visible force in American political life.”
According to Sekhar Narasimhan, founder of the super-PAC AAPI Victory Fund, the takeaway for him from the President’s message was that Asian Americans needed to get moving, get to the polling booths, to make a difference. “Only 56 percent of Asian-Americans are registered to vote, and Indian-Americans probably even less,” said Narasimhan who is also co-chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Indo-American Council. “Indian-Americans are very apathetic, even in the simple act of voting. Our data shows that in the 6 swing states, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, we are the margin of victory.”
Comedian and author Aziz Ansari was presented with the Vision Award at the gala, along with actor Alan Yang who was the co-star in his latest feature documentary “Master of None. “We need more minority creators,” Ansari said in his acceptance speech, NBC News reported. “Don’t wait for white people to open the door for you,” he added.
The event was emceed by two Indian-Americans, actor Parvesh Cheena and economist and entrepreneur Sonal Shah. Cheena best known for his role on NBC’s sitcom Outsourced and as the voice of the Transformer Blades on Discovery Family Channel’s “Transformers: Rescue Bots.” Shah is currently executive director of the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation and previously was the director of the White House office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. The 22nd annual gala was attended by more than 1,000 guests including members of Congress, among them Rep. Ami Bera, D-California, political activists, community leaders, and celebrities as well as White House Champions of Change.
