Over the years, the Indian-American community has gone from strength to strength in American politics. Now, as the race for the 2008 U.S. presidential elections heats up, the community is set to play a crucial role.
The 2008 U.S. presidential elections will be a landmark event for many reasons. Campaigning began in earnest almost 18 months before Election Day, generating unprecedented nationwide interest in the candidates and intense media coverage of the campaigns themselves. A field which includes a woman, an African American, a Mormon and a Hispanic has sent positive signals not only to the domestic electorate, but also generated immense international interest.
For the Indian-American community, too, this has been a watershed campaign in every way. The process of grassroots participation that began during the 2004 presidential elections has now grown into a national phenomenon.
Take, for instance, the involvement of the community in the now famous “Macaca” moment of Senator George Allen (R-VA). Senator Allen was well ahead in the polls until that fateful day in August 2006 when he called an Indian-American volunteer for his Democratic rival Jim Webb’s campaign a “Macaca.” Allen was not re-elected, a result that changed control on the Senate from Republican to Democratic hands. It is clear that Indian-American political activism in this campaign provided Webb with his margin of victory.
With this influential electoral impact, politicians, media and political strategists are beginning to understand that they can no longer ignore the Indian-American community.
The community’s participation in the 2006 local and national elections was also at an all-time high in terms of candidates, with nearly 20 Indian Americans running for office. Campaign contributions from the Indian-American community are at an all-time high and will continue to rise as Election Day nears.
The story is not only campaign contributions, however, it is the involvement of Indian Americans in key positions with several campaigns and our role in important primary states as legislators and opinion leaders. In addition, younger Indian Americans across the nation are volunteering and organizing at an unprecedented rate. It is all of the above that makes it clear that from now on Indian Americans will be a force in every election.
Even as they build their businesses or excel at their place of employment here, Indian Americans retain strong ties with India. Thus, the U.S.-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) has to not only focus on engaging members of Congress and administration officials on issues relating to foreign policy, but also work closely with them on domestic policy. While nearly two years of concentrated efforts by USINPAC and many others resulted in the passage of the historic U.S.-Indian Nuclear Agreement, USINPAC is equally vigorous in its efforts to improve the economic environment here for Indian-American entrepreneurs and their small- and medium-size enterprises.
As U.S.-India ties grow stronger, the Indian-American community has to, and will, play a significantly greater role in mainstream politics and bilateral relations. To be part of this path-breaking process and represent the Indian-American community makes us feel privileged. It is a tremendous responsibility and also one of the most challenging tasks one can undertake. It is also a journey all 2.5 million of us have to take together.
Indian Americans bring a very unique and important perspective to the world of politics and policy, a view that is shaped by watching terrorism first hand, by seeing how free trade can be beneficial, and how sensible immigration policies have attracted the best and brightest to this nation.
We have a duty to get these viewpoints to the presidential candidates, who will face a challenging economic and security climate when they take office in January 2009. I cannot think of a community that is more qualified to provide input in this dialogue than the Indian-American community.
