Tuesday
Jul272004
Asians Hunger for More Election Substance
Tuesday, July 27, 2004 at 03:26AM
'We Do Not Want to be an Afterthought to the Democrats'
With about a week's notice, more than a thousand Asian Pacific American political activists from across the country converged in Washington, D.C. for a June 18 fundraiser supporting Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry. Hundreds more listened to Kerry via telephone hookup at house parties in 24 states. The Democratic National Committee did not release any official figure, but one organizer estimated "more than a million dollars" was raised for the Massachusetts senator's bid for the White House. Afterwards, Rep. Michael Honda (D-San Jose) underscored the evening's accomplishments. "We raised money for Sen. Kerry. We let the Democratic Party know that we have built a structure to support a candidate that we want to support. We also let the DNC know that we have the structure that also provides policy and a talent pool. We know that Kerry has said that Asian Americans will ?not be an after thought,'" Honda said. [more]
With about a week's notice, more than a thousand Asian Pacific American political activists from across the country converged in Washington, D.C. for a June 18 fundraiser supporting Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry. Hundreds more listened to Kerry via telephone hookup at house parties in 24 states. The Democratic National Committee did not release any official figure, but one organizer estimated "more than a million dollars" was raised for the Massachusetts senator's bid for the White House. Afterwards, Rep. Michael Honda (D-San Jose) underscored the evening's accomplishments. "We raised money for Sen. Kerry. We let the Democratic Party know that we have built a structure to support a candidate that we want to support. We also let the DNC know that we have the structure that also provides policy and a talent pool. We know that Kerry has said that Asian Americans will ?not be an after thought,'" Honda said. [more]