Quoted from timesofindia (Jun-08-2008), “But his own staff, despite its considerable ethnic variety, misread his comments (at least geographically), and told the media that he had travelled to Karachi, Sind, and Hyderabad, India. In part, this misunderstanding arose because they knew of another Obama friend from India during his college days, Andhraite Vinai Thummalapally. However, it turned out despite his close friendship with Thummalapally, and his considerable knowledge of the subcontinent, he hadn’t visited Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It was Hyderabad, Sind, which he visited.”

condescending ‘we will rescue India from the USSR and China’ blather (JFK)

Too bad JFK couldn’t save India from the evil empires. While India was engaging in fabian socialism, India’s growth was poor. When they promoted an economic liberalization plan in 91 under Singh, only did India’s growth skyrocket.

Well in terms of any of these president candidates, I’d say all of these would do great. Thanks to Bill, relations with India have been getting better every year (especially under this Bush). Congress passed the nuclear thing last year, which has things going in the right direction for India & the U.S. But obviously, these pres will have a tough time with the foreign policy going on right now (in other countries).

On Hillary’s Clinton one deep – Huma Abedin is not the only desi connection. Both the Clintons are known Indo-philes. Amongst their biggest fund-raisers and closest friends have been the Chatwals (they even went to the Vikram Chatwal’s OTT-but-kewl wedding), Neera Tanden (the Hillary Clinton campaign’s policy director), Arvind Raghunathan of DB, Indira Nooyi (maybe – she and her husband have donated to both Democrats, but I don’t know which has to which), Rajen Anand, and a lot, lot of others. And of course, one can simply not be a NY Senator without knowing (and being supported by) a good, good number of Indians/South-Asians.

Which is why I need to roll my eyes in wonder when anyone, especially a brown blog, says Obama or any other American politician knows Indians/desis better than the Clintons do – such inferences run contrary to every factoid and news item of the last two decades. Which is why the D-Punjab memo was released in the first place, by the Obama campaign – they saw that as a clear, provable association of the Clintons.

And the bigger worry is over at the Obama camp. Bill Richardson is notoriously anti-India ever since it was under his watch that the ‘Buddha smiled again’ in 1998, and he felt like a fool because the Indians tested a nuclear device despite intensive US satellite imagery and tracking. And these were the same US satellites which, if you stood in the street and read a newspaper, could read the headlines of your newspaper. It is a different story that apparently all it took to fool the US satellite was doing the on-ground preparation in the 12-hour period when the satellites were facing the other side . If I find some links I’ll paste them here sometime.

In those crazy times, ten years ago next month, when the whole world was baying for India’s blood, it was Bill Clinton who stood up and advocated calmness and a relative respect for India’s rights/security concerns and therefore negotiated down the intensity of the sanctions that were subsequently imposed. Whatever you p-o-v on whether India should’ve gone nuclear – and I’ve heard excellent arguments both ways by very rational people – the fact here is that the Clintons have been unprecedentedly genuine supporters of India. Bill’s administration was the first US Administration ever since India’s independence to spend time, money and diplomacy efforts, and make friendly overtures, to Indians and the Indian government, and move away from (a) the usual loud anti-India rhetoric (Nixon) and (b) condescending ‘we will rescue India from the USSR and China’ blather (JFK).

And Obama, the Golden One, slipped in a cruel reference to outsourcing and totally ignored non-black, non-white race dynamics even in his famous overarching race speech (which was no less, apparently, than the Sermon on the Mount but was a copy of Bill’s Million Man March speech in the 90′s).

If a politician has ever walked the walk and talked the talk on partnership with a nation, it is Bill and Hillary Clinton. It’s silly to assume that just because Obama’s dad was Kenyan, or that he spent a week in Pakistan a couple decades ago, that he’ll be a better friend of Indians & Pakistanis.

[I'm sorry that I cannot provide any arguments for their support to other South-Asian nations - I'm simply not well-informed enough about that. But I'm interested in reading anything that y'all might put up here].

Well, Dems are stealth free-traders and Republicans are stealth protectionists. – steel tariffs in W. Virginia weeks before a tight election, or all the conditions that Republican candidates put around disbursed aid, “sure, we’ll help you with AIDS provided you buy overpriced condoms from a factory built in my district.” Any examination of the facts makes it clear that all politicians jockey to impose barriers that help their constituents in the short term.

just like “pro-life” republicans never seem to get anything done…

Except pack the Supreme Court with friendly justices, slow roll the okaying of Plan B, strongly skew funding towards abstinence-only education, and so on.

you’d think w/ that many foreign friends, he’d be more open to the benefits of global free trade….

i suspect he’s very open (as is Hill, even more obviously). I guess this constitutes his true Manchurianism: stealth free-trade candidate.

Who should be depressed, or suprised? what should such people do, in the short term, as 3 generations of “breeding” hasn’t overcome it{{sarcasm}}

Obama is the next Carter or LBJ. Mr. Big Government. He’s going to outspend Bush, and it’ll be real bad.

Somehow I doubt he would have the neccssary flag waving enablers to acccomplish such a humongous task

Which is the only reason I’m holding my powder on Obama because he’d better win in November.

Obama is the next Carter or LBJ. Mr. Big Government. He’s going to outspend Bush, and it’ll be real bad.

Ah Ha! Slyly bringing up his cocaine use, Rahul? Turd Blossom you are…or maybe Mark Penn.