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| Northern Mariana Democratic delegates cast their vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. |
Democratic Vice President nominee Governor Tim Walz walked into the room full of Asian Americans and began speaking in Mandarin. Surprised, attendees at the AAPI Caucus spontaneously erupted in cheers and applause.
“If you’ve ever wondered if we mattered as a caucus, if you’ve ever wondered if people see us, just take a look at what happened,” said Hawaii Rep. Jill Tokuda. “The next vice president of the United States showed up. He showed up. He came here to make it very clear. He spoke Mandarin. Mandarin!"
As if Kamala Harris' Indian roots were not enough, the ability of Minnesota Gov. Walz speaking Mandarin solidifies the connection between the Democratic candidates and Asian America.
He learned to speak Mandarin as a young man teaching English to students in China after graduating from college.
“This is the great American journey towards a more perfect union,” Walz said. “We know there’s more work to be done. We know there’s challenges in front of us. These are hard things to tackle. But hard work can be joyful. Work hard work and be happy when you’re doing it. Hard work can be about making sure we’re inclusive to everyone. That truly means everyone.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, both representing Illinois in Congress, were among the Democratic leaders at the AAPI Caucus meeting on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.
“There’s that old saying in Washington, D.C., ‘If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu,’” Krishnamoorthi told the Caucus attendees. “We can never afford to be on the menu; we are pulling up our proverbial seats to the table, and now, it’s time to eat.”
During the roll call of state delegations Tuesday night, many delegates proudly proclaimed that Harris could become the first Black woman US President. It was until an Indian American delegate from Maine pointed out that the candiate could be the first South Asian President.
“It is astonishing to me that we characterize her easily as the first Black woman president. A lot of times, the South Asian part, the Asian American part, gets left off the list,” said B.D. Wong during the AAPI Caucus meeting. “And we really need to own it, and we need to be really proud of it, and we need to perpetuate it and remind people that that is … an incredible thing. And I think in our kind of non-confrontational Asian Americanness, we kind of like let it slide a little bit, but let’s really lean into it.”
Among the strategies being employed by AANHPI volunteers for Harris-Walz especially in Democratic-majority states like Californina or Hawaii where votes are almost certain to be going to the Democratic ticket, campaign workers are contacting friends, family and groups out of state to vote for Harris-Walz.
“We are the margin of victory,” Duckworth told the Caucus. “We need to reach out to our communities all across the country,” especially in red states and battleground states.
Hawaii volunteers are phone banking, writing postcards, marching, sign-waving, texting and more, says Hawaii state Rep. Bella Au Belatti, who is part of the Hawaii Blue Wave, engaging in out-of-state lobbying.
“That’s how energized I think the people of Hawaii are,” Tokuda told Civil Beat. “They’re not going to just sit back and vote blue, because we’re going to deliver. Hawaii is going to deliver. And I’m proud to be part of that.”
“I think the best way for folks to help is to plug in on the fundraising side, and also [help boost] turnout in purple and red states,” agreed San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu to the San Francisco Examiner.
“San Francisco Democrats have always done a good job of organizing volunteers, phone banks, text banks and other outreach efforts into swing states and battleground districts. But we have to double down. The fate of our democracy hangs on this,” said Chiu.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-CA, told the 1000 people at the DNC's AAPI Caucus meeting: “When we elect Kamala Harris as president of the United States, we’re going to show that this country is a multiracial democracy where it doesn’t matter how long your lineage is, you can be American. Everyone can be American.”
