Hilary Clinton Creates "AAPI for Hillary" to Persuade Asian American Voters

In an attempt to garner votes from the Asian American community, Presidential Nominee, Hillary Clinton, has started an Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for Hillary, a national initiative to organize and recruit Asian American and Pacific Island supporters. In an event to celebrate the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Clinton named Representative Doris Matsui of Sacramento as her national Asian American voter outreach campaign chairwoman. Matsui seems pleased with her nomination as she states:

"Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a huge opportunity to make a difference in this election. Hillary Clinton has been a consistent champion and friend of the AAPI community. She is ready to be our next president, and the AAPI community is ready to support her. I look forward to leading the charge to help make Hillary the candidate of choice for AAPI voters."

This initiative is one of the first of its kind due to its early start of the Presidential Campaign and as it's target of the Asian American community. However, it is not surprising as the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are one of the fastest growing ethnic group in the country and represent 5% of the American population according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Also, their rise in influence and education is one of the determining factor for this newly found focus. Currently in California, there are about 2.5 eligible AAPI voters; which has doubled from 1995 to 2005.

Along with Matsui, AAPI for Hillary will be led my prominent members across the U.S. which includes organization in states of California, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Mid-Atlantic, and Texas. There has never been a focus on the Asian American population of this magnitude before. The committee hopes to expand in the next couple of months and is expected to launch the Nevada committee of AAPI for Hillary next month. There already has been an enormous amount of support in fund-raising and start up of grass-root campaigns.

This is a surprising new trend since Asian Americans have been portrayed as apathetic non-voters, so a lot of the previous campaigners ignored the Asian community. In an interview with the Audrey Magazine, University of Utah Asian American politics professor Pie-te Lien states, "Historically speaking, Asian Americans were not allowed to become citizens and not allowed to vote. We were excluded from the American immigration story," Furthermore, Asian Americans were discouraged to participate due to the fear that they would interfere with the process. This created a backlash, and the stereotype was given. But, now the tides have seemed to change. Minorities make up about 40% of the population in California and will be a significant contributor to the 2008 Presidential Election, and many Presidential nominees are taking a note to this fact.

Clinton expressed her appreciation by stating:

"I am thrilled to have the support of so many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and in particular, leaders like Doris Matsui. We're not taking any vote for granted, and I want the AAPI community to know that I hope to earn their vote. Together, we can rededicate our efforts to creating better opportunities and brighter futures for all Americans."

resources

San Francisco Chronicle

Blog4president.us

Nichi Bei Times