This is a turning point in U.S. political history: no serious candidate for the presidency from here on out can ignore the mandate to build a multiracial coalition....

Unfortunately, the pundits have already seized upon an equally divisive and reductionist theme. Interethnic relations are no longer a sideshow, but our understanding of them is severely limited. Everyone following the campaign has now read Clinton pollster Sergio Bendixen's remark, "The Hispanic voter -- and I want to say this very carefully -- has not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates." (JEFF NOTE: That argument is taken apart completely by Gregory Rodriguez right hurrr.) Also surfacing less noticeably in places like online forums was the assertion that racial prejudice inhibits Asian Americans from voting for Blacks.

While prejudice and narrow-mindedness circulates in various forms within sectors of the Latino and Asian populations, crude thinking can blind us to the less sensational but more significant reasons why Clinton prevailed. She had built up a huge lead and enjoyed immense name recognition, which translated into a huge lead in absentee voting. In many places, Obama has overcome these obstacles with an excellent ground game that has attracted and energized new voters. Local observers, however, have remarked that his campaign lacked either the time or proper strategy to develop effective grassroots outreach to Latinos and Asians in California.

But if Clinton's multicultural strategy is unprecedented, Obama's effort to transcend "minority" politics is historic. Casting Obama as a "colorblind" politician, the pundits and his left skeptics have largely missed the significance of what he represents. Getting "beyond race" today is not about ignoring the problem of racism or moderating ones politics to appease whites. Instead, it means thinking about America as a multiracial nation that dispels old notions of both white normativity and majority/minority identities. Culturally and demographically, millions of Americans -- especially youth -- already live in a world where that notion of white majority has been displaced by a multiethnic reality. Obama is helping us to envision what a new majority will look like politically.

For this reason, the Obama campaign is the only one with movement building potential and why we all have a stake in its efforts to build a multiracial coalition on new ground. Following the dictates of pollsters and consultants, traditional Democrats carve us all up into "interest groups," so they can push the hot buttons that reinforce our sense of victimization and vilify the other side. Obama has learned -- both from his study of what historian Charles Payne has called the black freedom struggle's "organizing tradition" and from his experience organizing against the depths of despair in Chicago's deindustrialized South Side -- that such an approach is not only ineffective but also spiritually bankrupt. If you are just a "minority leader," then you're not really a leader at all. If you are only fighting for your "fair share" of the riches controlled by those in power, you'll never address the root causes of oppression. Above all is the sense that none of us can be free in America or face the global crises of our lifetime until we change the whole country. That is why Obama has the "audacity" to think he is the best person to lead the entire nation.

It is clear from the California result that we will now be witness to a paradigm shifting clash between two consciously multiracial organizing strategies. Clinton's appeal is to give all minorities a seat at the table and a share of the pie. Obama challenges us to see ourselves instead as a collective majority....

Labels: 2G2K Circus, asian american voters, barack obama, hillary clinton, latino voters

Clinton won a majority of Latino votes in several states with high proportions of Latino voters, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and - the biggest prize - California, where she beat Obama 2-1 among Latinos, according to an MSNBC exit poll. And she drew votes from about 75 percent of Asian American Democrats in California, who represent about 8 percent of the state's total Democratic vote, according the MSNBC exit poll.

But Obama did well with Latino voters in his home state of Illinois (JEFF NOTE: CNN's exit poll, shows he took 58% of 30-44...), as well as in Connecticut, and he took more than 40 percent of Latino votes in Arizona, the exit poll shows.

"We actually made enormous progress last night," Obama said at a news conference Wednesday in Chicago. "You take a look at a state like Arizona, where we got somewhere in the low 40s with the Latino vote, and it indicates what I suggested earlier after the Nevada contest, which is as Latino voters get to know me, we do better.

"And so it's just a matter of us getting more information to them, doing the kind of advertising that we had the resources to do leading up to Super Tuesday. When they receive that information, they realize that I'm somebody who's going to be battling for all people, including the Latino vote."

But Ayón doubts Obama will capture the Lone Star state's Latinos, given Clinton's advantage.

"It's a real hard sell. The only advantage he has in Texas is, he's got money and he's got time. But he's unknown," said Ayón. "The Clintons have really worked this ground. They're able to stage events, work those networks, get the machinery going. What Obama's doing everywhere is building an organization from scratch. And that's a lot harder to do in a large state."

Because the key to Obama's campaign success is its ground operation that is based on a grassroots community organizing model (a la Marshall Ganz), any time the campaign treads the traditional top-down and tested electoral campaign approach the Obama campaign falters in that area. I don't believe the kind of structure that existed in S.Carolina and Iowa existed in AA/PI immigrant L.A. or Latina/o L.A. If SEIU in LA had switched for Obama earlier and hit the ground, that structure would most likely would have existed. the past L.A. Latina/Labor alliance electoral work has proven this to be true. Maria Elena Durazo got involved with the Obama campaign without the usual footsoldiers she has on hand to make things happen. I don't believe it is just a case of whether a particular community has reached a particular zeitgeist of generational insurgency but the presence or absence of grassroots organization in particular communities.

Clinton also has emphasized her commitment to Asian Americans, locking down several important Asian American politicians, said Don Nakanishi of UCLA's Asian American Studies Center. Last year, for example, Clinton landed support from Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, who chairs Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Hillary.

"The vote doesn't surprise me at all," Nakanishi said, noting that Clinton has strong roots in the community. "But there was a very active core of young Asian Americans who are very supportive of Obama, trying to raise his visibility."

Obama, who grew up in Hawai'i and has Asian family members, has made his multi-ethnic roots part of the political campaign. Last week, his Chinese Canadian brother-in-law, Konrad Ng, addressed Asian American voters, telling them that their perspective is important to Obama.

Although small compared to the Latino vote, the Asian American vote is gaining clout. The Asian American Studies Center estimates that between the years 2000 and 2005, the number of Asian Americans eligible to vote in California increased from 2 million to 2.5 million, pushing the Asian American share of the proportion of the state's voters to 12 percent.

"They also developed this reputation of being the new source of financial contributions, so they are being courted by political campaigns," Nakanishi said.

"People say Latinos won't vote for a black candidate. Well, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. There are existing tensions, but the way to overcome those is through familiarity, through learning something about a candidate that helps you connect."

Labels: 2G2K Circus, asian american voters, barack obama, hillary clinton, latino voters

Labels: african american voters, asian american voters, ease up you've got it wrong, latino voters

Labels: 2008 elections, 2G2K Circus, asian american voters, barack obama, hillary clinton, latino voters, presidential elections

I applaud your efforts to press Mr. Obama and the other presidential candidates on issues related to Asian Americans. But I think your Defeat Obama campaign is divisive and not related to your stated mission of uniting Asian Americans. Worse, I think it plays to the racism that is unfortunately so prevalent in our society, including among some Asian Americans.

As Asian Americans we ought to know that one of the principal forms of racism is the often unfair claim, usually by some whites, that we and other people of color are not qualified to hold important positions. To say that Mr. Obama is not qualified to be president is not only incorrect, it also plays to that racism.

Moreover, it inflames the racial fires currently impacting upon the Democratic campaign in response to Mr. Obama's success in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.

I have no problem with criticizing Mr. Obama or any other candidate if they refuse to support legitimate Asian American rights. I also would have no problem with your deciding to throw your support behind a particular candidate and saying why. Those are positive actions.

But to mount a campaign claiming that Mr. Obama is unqualified to be president is harshly negative and divisive.

Whatever critique you may have of Mr. Obama, he is surely as qualified as many if not most of the people who have ever run for or even held the presidency. To decide that one candidate is more qualified than the others is what every voter must decide. To claim that a candidate with impressive credentials and massive backing such as Mr. Obama is not qualified at all is a harsh claim that smacks of partisan hype.

I hope you reconsider this ill conceived campaign and refocus on proactive efforts for Asian American equality and political unity.

Labels: asian american voters, barack obama, oh the stupidity