Say no to Indicorps! It is a Gujurati organization that is non-secular and supports Hindutva (Vishwa Hindu Parishad). My friend got rejected by Indicorps because he didn’t graduate from an Ivy League

I vote for politicians who promise… extremely hawkish about security (even with sacrifice of privacy outside the confines one’s home)… non-nanny-State philosiphy.

MoorNam, experts do unbundle, I agree with that. But your pro-police state vs. anti-nanny state stance is a huge contradiction, not only internally but with the label libertarian.

yes, it is important that these are recognized. my father, who is involved in politics locally, would say this is an indication of progress compared to what he saw when he came here in the early 70′s. at the same time, the next step(s) need to be taken. however, to imply these steps are not being taken is wrong (from what i have seen locally,) especially using these articles as context.

it’s also natural for someone to report these types of appearances at this time. this would be similar to reporting on a politician’s appearance in the puerto rican day parade (a big deal in chicago.) even la raza would report on that appearance.

in any case, it should come to no one’s surprise that it may take some time for us to get “better. the history of asian-americans is still very short, and it will lag those of other minority groups. and while south asians themselves (let alone all asians) are a diverse group (like the hispanics,) there are many common issues that were mentioned above.

one that i didn’t see was immigration policy (i apologize if someone had mentioned it.) however, there are examples of south asians coming together on that issue. a congressional district in the northwest suburubs of chicago was recently won by a democrat (melissa bean) who had help from south asians. she beat a republican who was their for over 30 years, but had ignored the south asians. well, she recently supported a bill that would curb immigration, including those from asia. many indians (both in an organized and unorganized fashion) have written to her. this is an example of how we don’t always “ignore getting involved in substantive issues.”

this also shows how important it is to be active on local levels. it is being involvied in these local issues that will lead to things on a greater, national level. i think many overachieving asian american want “us” to jump in the limelight, often ignoring the fact they could do more by participating at the local level. and this, at least in chicago, is improving. i could go on, but that’s already too long for my taste…

I vote for politicians who promise lower taxes, free-trade, intolerant of illegal immigration, increasing legal immigration (especially from India), lesser government in non-security matters, extremely hawkish about security (even with sacrifice of privacy outside the confines one’s home), racial tolerance, non-nanny-State philosiphy.

I don’t care for politicians who promise Social Security, Medicare, more-Government, Moral Equivalents, Affirmative Action, Racial and Religious Quotas, etc etc.

On things like Abortion I have no position. People who want to abort should be free to do so, at their own expense. If Conservatives overturn RoeVsWade, it may not effect me much because I’m fortunate enough to be able to afford to go to Canada or India should the need arise.

On things like stem-cell research, I am with the Liberals – primarily because other countries will steal a march on America if it’s banned.

In a nutshell – a Libertarian like myself ends up choosing the lesser of two evils at that particular election. In the next elections, my vote may reverse completely based on the issues I’m concerned about at that point in time. And no samosa eating politician can change that.

M. Nam

As I have nothing to contribute to a discussion about American voting, allow me to say Gong Hai Fat Choi as well and happy new year of the main course.

I agree with your point that we should be looking for more substantial issues, but I also think it’s nice that these festivals etc are recognized.

Sorry, A more original name

As for the “brown vote”. I don’t know what that means. I would probably vote alongside my brown friends who are all New Democrats (Canada, yo). I wouldn’t necessarily vote with my family who are all suburban-Ontarian and who strategically will switch between the Liberal and the Conservative vote depending on issues of taxes and finance. And I would certainly not vote with any of thier friends who spew some of the most racist, ignorant, homophobic crap I’ve ever heard outside of redneck yahoos in the movies.

We may feel the weight of our home/diasporic culture in every thing we do and say but we have to also see ourselves as responsible citizens of our host country – or for many of us – our country of birth. We have to vote with the issues that speak to each of us and ignore whatever some greasy politician is trying to bribe the whole of “us” with. Which also brings up the point that they don’t ever seem to get – “Hindu” is not a category really. I’m Bengali – Diwali frankly means very little to me or my family. It might as well be Chinese New Year or Christmas – a lot of fun to participate in, but still kind of foreign. So there goes that silly tactic.