The First Asian Pacific American President: With an African American on the path to the White House, when is it our turn?



The first of a three-part series on the prospects of an Asian American presidency

Asian Week:
By Gerry Shih
AsianWeek ?The First Asian Pacific American President: With an African American on the path to the White House, when is it our turn?

With Sen. Barack Obama clinching the Democratic nomination for president and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal named as a possible Republican vice presidential nominee, Asian American communities are beginning to wonder when the doors to the Oval Office might open to them. But should Obama succeed in breaking the ultimate color barrier, politicos and scholars say his success would not necessarily pave a parallel road for Asian Pacific Americans. Instead, the different political dynamics could present a fresh set of challenges.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for APAs is their relatively small numbers, making up only 5 percent of the American population, and the fact that most are not native-born Americans. Still, professor Larry Shinagawa of the University of Maryland points out that 68 percent of Asian Americans were born or have been raised in America, as many immigrated at a young age.
This large segment that grew up as a part of American society may contribute to high crossover appeal for an Asian candidate. Also, a higher proportion of Asian American voters register as Independents, and many share a socially liberal but economically fiscal outlook. Further, some estimates indicate that one-third of Asian Americans are in interracial marriages.
But Rudy Pamintuan, former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, said the diversity and segregation within the community would be the main challenge to an APA presidency. Pamintuan emphasized the importance of an issue like economic development that has to not only unite the community politically, but also has to get mainstream voters excited.
“You have to consider history and the American institution,” cautioned Pie-te Lien, a political scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The institution, Lien notes, has traditionally seen Asians as “whitened” compared to African Americans, which could make an Asian American more acceptable. Yet Asian Americans are also seen as not as integrated into American society as blacks; eight out of 10 Asian Americans of voting age are foreign-born.
Asian Pacific America also has some of the most desirable demographics for political fund raising and organizing — $427 billion in buying power, for example. Extended family ties may also mean more group voting.
David Lee, executive director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee in San Francisco, said the community has come a long way. “Even 10 years ago, an African American presidential candidate would have been unthinkable,” Lee said. “Anything is possible in America.”
Still, Asian Americans occupy only eight seats in Congress, most from the West Coast and the only senators both hail from Hawai‘i. None have publicly considered a run for president.
“We constantly need to build the pipeline,” said Christine Chen, the former executive director of Washington-based APIA Vote. “Until we start filling spots on the lower level, we’re not going to have potential candidates.”
Two names surface most often as possibilities.
Don Nakanishi, director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, suggests Washington’s Gary Locke, who became the first Asian American governor of a continental state in 1997.
A Democratic administration could draw Locke back into public life next year, possibly as a Cabinet secretary. “If he ends up with a high-level appointment this time, he may be back in the running,” Chen said.
Even more prominent is Louisiana Governor Jindal, the 36-year-old Indian American that Republicans hope is their answer to Obama; conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Jindal the next Ronald Reagan.
Citing the high probability of the first African American president and marriage equality becoming a reality in California, Curtis Chin, founding board member of Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, said, “Any time the country takes a step toward inclusion and diversity, it helps everyone, including Asian Americans. It’s really just a matter of time.”

Asian Week
By: Phil Tajitsu Nash, Jun 12, 2008
AsianWeek ?The First APA President: The New Gen and The Long Shots
Tags: National |


The second of a three-part series on the prospects of an Asian American presidency
Where will our first Asian Pacific American president come from? Most presidents come through one of three pipelines: the vice presidency, governorships or service as a member of the United States Senate. My guess is that we will see an APA rise up to the governorship of a key state, have him or her be selected as a vice president, and then have him or her run for and win the presidency. Given the number of people in the pipeline, my estimate is that this will happen within the next 20 years, and maybe sooner.
For example, Jay Goyal is a promising Democratic state legislator in Ohio who is already being named to key state committees in his 20s. John Chiang, the current California state controller, is another prospect, as are the state legislators of Asian descent in Texas, New York and Pennsylvania.
Elections are less about individuals than about finding someone who represents the interests of enough voters to propel the ticket to victory. For that reason, the many elected officials from Hawai‘i, which does not have enough electoral votes to swing the presidential election, have less of a chance of being asked onto a presidential ticket.
All of that would change, however, if the rules of the game changed. The campaign for a national popular vote, a fast-growing nationwide movement to circumvent the antiquated Electoral College procedure for electing presidents, would make each vote and each state important.
Having an APA president would be a wonderful development, but until that day happens, we should set our sights on more easily attainable prizes. For example, Seattle-based APA community activists helped a young lawyer named Gary Locke run for a Washington state legislative seat in 1982, and after a stellar career as a legislator, Locke was elected Washington state governor in 1996. In that office, he was able to help the APA community in ways that went far beyond the initial efforts of his community-based supporters.
Norman Mineta, the éminence grise of APA politics and former San Jose mayor, U.S. representative and secretary of both commerce and transportation, could never have achieved the level of success he did had a group of farsighted Issei farmers not decided in the 1940s that they never again wanted to be excluded from the political process. The rest, as we say, is history.

Asian Week
By: Jean Han, Jun 23, 2008
Tags: National |

source:
AsianWeek Who Wants to be President?

The final of a three-part series on the prospects of an Asian American president
Constitutional eligibility to run for U.S. president is becoming a contentious issue as diversity in politics grows. With a steadily expanding list of foreign-born Americans in prominent offices — a list that includes Asian Americans U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, New York City Councilman John Liu, Minnesota state Sen. Mee Moua and Army Major General Antonio Taguba— the issue of whether those born outside of the United States are eligible to run for president is a salient one.
Article Two of the U.S. Constitution states that only a “natural-born” citizen of the U.S. can be eligible to become president, but it does not define the term, thus leaving the door to the presidency open — even if just a mere crack — for immigrants. Without a constitutional amendment, the issue of eligibility will always be up for interpretation.
While even the idea of a foreign-born president may seem far-fetched for some, former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke thinks that the first, important step is to prevent the debate of amending the constitution from becoming a backburner issue.“We should be pursuing this right now,” Locke said. “Changing the U.S. Constitution is a lengthy, arduous process.”
Locke points out that shutting out those not born on U.S. soil could potentially limit not just the diversity of candidates, but the quality. “We have so many people who should be eligible,” he said. “There is a growing diversity in our country. We should focus on the best candidates and qualifications. Just because someone came over at a very young age should not be a barrier.”
The idea of a foreign-born president might pose more of an issue sooner than later. Even members of President Bush’s Cabinet who, by job title, are direct in line to succeed him are not constitutionally allowed to do so. Labor Secretary Chao, for example, was born in Taiwan; former Housing Secretary Mel Martinez was born in Cuba.
There are political leaders who think a foreign-born president should be a real possibility for Americans. In 2004, a joint resolution was introduced in Congress by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, proposing a constitutional amendment that enabled naturalized U.S citizens to run for office, as long as they have held their citizenship for at least 20 years.
For those who are foreign-born and serving in Congress, this was a welcome, if as yet unsuccessful, push. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-California, is perhaps America’s most well-known foreign-born politician, but there is also Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Michigan, who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia (Schwarzenegger has been an outspoken proponent of extending eligibility for foreign-born citizens).
Republican presidential frontrunner John McCain was recently put to the test when his eligibility was questioned. McCain was born in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, a U.S. territory at the time.
McCain isn’t the first presidential candidate to run into eligibility problems. In 1964, during the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, who was born in Arizona before it became a state, the Supreme Court ruled that “natural-born” included those born in U.S. territories.
The recent ruling on McCain’s eligibility is not likely to end the debate either. But if this time the U.S. territory-born candidate wins, unlike those before him, it could open up more of a debate.
The face of America is changing, but what is agreeably constant is that America is a country of immigrants. Until recently, the face of politics has been slow to show that change. Race and gender have been part of the discussion of this year’s primaries, but the idea of a foreign-born presidential candidate is something that has yet to be a serious issue. The prospect of a foreign-born president is close but still very far away.