Potomac Primaries
February 18, 2008
Last Tuesday was the day when the nation looked to the Chesapeake Bay states to see which candidates would move ahead in their quest for the White House. On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and Sen. John McCain did the same against three other GOP contenders.
According to an Associated Press exit poll, Obama won a majority of white voters in Virginia, 52 percent to 47 percent, while Clinton won that group in Maryland by 10 percentage points. White women and older voters, which tended toward Clinton earlier in the campaign, broke for Obama in larger percentages than before, adding to his earlier strengths among younger voters, African Americans, more affluent voters and Independents. Obama won majorities of white men and Latinos in Virginia, but not in Maryland.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national civil rights group based in New York, conducted exit polls in Virginia and Maryland, but results were not available when this column went to press. Earlier AALDEF exit polls conducted on Super Tuesday in New York and New Jersey found that APA voters overwhelmingly supported Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain.
The AALDEF exit poll, carried out in conjunction with the Korean American Voters’ Council of N.Y./N.J. and YKASEC: Empowering the Korean American Community, was available in English, Chinese and Korean. More than 100 attorneys, law students and community volunteers conducted the poll and spoke seven Asian languages or dialects, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati.
The Democratic leadership among APAs here in the nation’s capital seems to break down along generational lines. Many of those old enough to have served in Bill Clinton’s administration from 1993 to 2000 support Sen. Clinton, and many of the younger APA Democratic activists seem to support Sen. Obama.
Among my students at the University of Maryland and in other student groups, there is support for both Obama and Clinton. The rally held for Obama supporters on campus the day before the election, however, was packed to overflowing, with lines of zealous supporters flowing outside. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary, and Republican Mike Huckabee also turned out crowds when they spoke on campus.
Indian American actor Kal Penn stumped for Obama at both the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, and large numbers of Asian Americans could be seen at the rallies. NYU student Mika Kurose Rothman was among the many out-of-state Obama supporters who stumped for Obama in the Potomac primary states, and Mika was even interviewed about her use of Facebook and other social networking tools to help galvanize students to support her favorite candidate.
No matter which candidate ultimately prevails, it is heartening to see that the Millennials (those born after 1985) are continuing their habit of volunteering and participating in community support activities in large numbers. Thirteen times more students voted this year than in the 2004 primary at the precinct that includes the University of Maryland, despite treacherous icy roads and sidewalks on primary day.
Here in Maryland, a local congressional election between two African Americans that ended the tenure of one of the senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus had some lessons that might resonate even more strongly in November. Eight-term Democrat Albert Wynn lost in a landslide to community activist Donna Edwards based on her campaign’s focus on the need for a change from the world of politics as usual. She attacked Rep. Wynn for his support of the Iraq War, and his votes to support more draconian bankruptcy laws and other laws that hurt his Fourth Congressional District constituents.
Edwards’ defeat of Wynn in a majority-African American district that includes poor, middle-income and wealthy residents showed that Democrats such as Wynn and members of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council can be successfully challenged for their support of George W. Bush’s policies. Internet-based fund-raising support from across the country and smart organizing by a well-organized local campaign also made a difference.
On the Republican side, nine-term Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest also was defeated in a primary by a challenger with a “change” message. However, state Sen. Andy Harris, the physician who defeated Gilchrest in the 1st District, promised to push his party more to the right.
With the left tending more left and the right tending more right here in Maryland, finding common ground will be a challenge for whomever wins the White House in November.
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