By Randall Yip, Executive Editor
A blue wave of energy takes over the United Center in Chicago this week as Democrats will nominate the first Asian American and first Black woman for President.
The injection of the enthusiasm that Vice President Kamala Harris brought to the party when she became the nominee can’t be underestimated, said Shekar Narasimhan, founder and chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund and a member of the Convention Rules Committee for the convention. The Victory Fund is a national political action committee dedicated to electing Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders into political office.
“I am supercharged,” he told AsAmNews. “It is allowing us to expand the map and expand the electorate all the above. We now have many paths to victory.”
Narasimhan admits President Biden faced long odds winning the battleground states of Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina. Now he says all seven state including the states they previously had to have- Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, are in play.
Polls also show the enthusiasm gap has closed between the Democrats and Republicans about their party’s nominees.
Washington State Senator Joe Nguyễn (D-Seattle) says Harris has not only engaged younger voters in the Asian American communities, but also older voters.
“A vice president who’s going be the nominee that represents the Asian community that represents a black community as well. I think it’s come kind of a coming of age for us politically,” Nguyễn told AsAmNews.
Nguyễn also serves as president and CEO of the AAPI Victory Fund and will be a delegate at the convention representing his state. He predicts a new level of political engagement now that AAPIs see someone who “reflects our community” at the top of the ticket.
“We know that we have political power. I think this is the 1st time that the world is going to see that the Asian American community has that as well,” he says.
That power comes from being what he calls the swing community. The Asian American population in each of the swing states is larger than the margins of victories in the presidential race in 2020.
The headline in the New York Times last week declared Asian Americans could be key swing voters in 2024.
Most Asian Americans lean Democrat, according to AAPI Data, with perhaps the exception of the Vietnamese American community which has the highest percentage of Republican voters among the six largest Asian American subgroups.
However, both Nguyễn and Narasimhan, say Democrats can’t take the Asian American vote for granted. They also caution the divisive pro-Palestinian issue could potentially disrupt the convention.
“This one is the one that I say is so emotional, is so didactic, is so polarized that I would I would be surprised if they were not protest. I just hope they are kept under control,” said Narashimhan. “In the case of Chicago, it it gives you memories of prior a prior convention.”
It was at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968 when the Vietnam War disrupted that convention and led to week-long protests.
The Democratic Convention begins today and runs through Thursday when Harris will be formally accepted as the nominee. President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote opening night.
Narashimhan hopes for a “civil debate” this time around.
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