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API Delegates Wrap Up Democratic National Convention

2000 National Democratic Convention

By Sam Chu Lin

Last week as Vice President Al Gore wrapped up his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, thousands of delegates applauded and cheered.

“I know my own imperfections,” he told the arena audience. “I know that sometimes people say I’m too serious, that I talk too much substance and policy. But the presidency is more than a popularity contest. It’s a day-by-day fight for people. Sometimes, you have to choose to do what’s difficult or unpopular. Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong. There are big choices ahead, and our whole future is at stake ... If you entrust me with the presidency, I know I won’t always be the most exciting politician, but I pledge to you, I will work for you every day and I will never let you down.”

Democrats erupted in cheer. The conventioned turned into a a party as the vice president shook congratulatory hands from people like Washington Gov. Gary Locke, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and others gathered on the dais.

Gore’s address apparently hit a a political homerun. Before the convention got underway, the polls had shown Gore trailing GOP rival Texas Gov. George W. Bush by as much as 11 percent. Now, however, most polls indicate Gore has either taken the lead or is neck-and-neck with Bush.

“He was right on target, and it was a winning speech,” said California Assemblyman Mike Honda of San Jose, Calif., who was seated near the speaker’s podium. “He talked about the issues that are important to the American people and to Asian Pacific Americans.”

“Al Gore has demonstrated he is a strong leader himself, and he’s ready to be president,” yelled out Lily Chen of Glendale, Calif., as she stood on a chair and waved a Gore banner.

A huge crowd of Asian American political activists, who had gathered in a hotel conference room only blocks away to watch the convention on television, joined in the applause as thousands of balloons and confetti poured down onto the audience at Staples Center, where the convention was held .

Levin Sy, an API delegate who was clearly impressed with Gore’s “amazing” speech, said, “The party has reached out to us, and it’s time for us to come through with our votes.”

Close to 200 Asian Pacific American delegates participated in the Democratic National Convention. Many of them said there was a feeling of inclusion. Six Asian Americans spoke at the event. And vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Joel Lieberman of Connecticut addressed the Asian Pacific American caucus, emphasizing that Asian Americans are needed to win this election.

“This is for real,” said Oregon Rep. David Wu, D-Ore. “There are a lot of Asian Pacific Americans who are here as delegates, who are here as elected officials, and we are full-fledged participants. It’s not just window dressing,” he added, alluding to the GOP’s efforts of inclusion at their convention held in July.

Mark Keam, a political activist from Washington, D.C., said, “I think we have a lot more at stake. We were politically active, getting out the vote, the registration and citizenship programs, and then we had a big set back: the fund-raising scandals. After that the disloyalty claims and the issue of spy allegations … We took a lot of hits politically.

“This time …We are not only back in the race and working for a winner, we’re back with a vengeance.”

With the race in a dead heat, many of the API delegates said they are now looking forward to the presidential debates. Keith Umemoto, assistant secretary of Office of Legislative Affairs with the California Trade and Commerce Agency, predicted those verbal contests would have a big impact on the election results.

“It’s not going to be an easy race,” he said. “I think the message has to be clearly delineated and expose to the American people of who Al Gore is. He is the candidate [for] all the people. Hopefully, the debates will make that clear and uncover the façade that we saw in Philadelphia.”

One challenge will be to get more people in the API community registered to vote. Delegates acknowledge that new immigrants make up a large percentage of Asian Americans. Moreover, most know little about the U.S. political system and are hesitant to participate.

Martha Choe, Director of Washington State’s Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, emphasized that needs to be changed quickly if Asian Americans are to gain more political clout.

“We need to educate our community … [on] how to go about registering to vote,” she stated. “I think in Korea, many of the people don’t have the kind of personal contact that they have with candidates and elected officials here. They don’t have this kind of access. We need to explain to the community why it is important to turn out at events like this. Probably most importantly we need to explain why it makes a difference who we vote for.”

Rep. Patsy Mink of Hawaii also pointed out that Asian Americans must realize that it is important to support Democratic candidates for not only the White House but also the Congress.

“It is a marriage between the legislative and the executive that will give us the power to produce what we want to do for America—universal health care, better funds for education, and all the other things that we have talked about,” Mink said.

Mink also argued that the Democrats are responsible for the United States’ current prosperity. “I think the very highly motivated, intelligent Asian Pacific community had better wake up and realize that Democrats really took a hard stand for a lot of us … If they want this prosperity to continue, without it being passed away with all kinds of gimmicks by the Republicans, they had better stick with us.”