The Asian American Action Fund along with 170 Asian American leaders are urging presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to consider Senators Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth as his presidential nominee, reports AA Press.
Biden has pledged to pick a women as his running mate and many groups are pressuring him to choose a person of color.
The open letter written to Biden is the first to call for an Asian American women to be considered.
Both Harris and Duckworth have been mentioned in media reports as potential nominees. Harris got out of the gates early in the Democratic presidential race, but faded and dropped out-eventually endorsing Biden’s candidacy.
Her parents are from Jamaica and India is considered to the left of Biden and would be a popular choice among liberals and African Americans. Duckworth is a purple heart veteran who lost her right leg in battle during the Iraq War in 2004. She represents the state of Illinois. Her mother is Thai of Chinese descent. Harris is from California and both are respected junior senators.
“As we all know, this choice would be a historic first, during an especially tumultuous time for Asian American Pacific Islanders. This decision will help galvanize the AAPI community as we look to November — and beyond,” Paul Tiao, Co-Founder ofAAAFund said in Medium.
In the letter, the coalition of Asian American Pacific Islander leaders argued:
“API voters can provide the margin of victory in pivotal swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, totaling over half a million voters: President Trump won these states by only 77,744 votes in 2016. We would be remiss to lose an opportunity to prove to AAPIs across the country that they are represented, that they have a voice, and that they are valued. Senators Duckworth and Harris are the strongest running mates to do so.”
The letter was signed by leaders from 16 states including Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, all which are swing states with plenty of electoral college votes.
The Asian American Action Fund endorsed Biden in March, reported India West.
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RE: Asian Americans urge Joe Biden to consider Asian American senators for Vice President: Although there are many wonderful people in the API community I do not believe this is the time to muddy the waters of who should be Mr. Biden’s running mate. Haven’t we had enough ego pandering over the past 4 years? What is central is the creation of the broadest coalition to remove the cancer from the federal government and start the rebuilding of our nation. That will not be served by seeking an API running mate. Our time will come but it is not 2020.
Well then Kamala Harris satisfies everyone lol. She is half black and half Indian