Asian Americans for Obama

Big Island rally this Friday

Obama's sister to attend Big Island rally

HONOLULU — Maya Soetoro-Ng, sister of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, will be making an appearance on behalf of her brother at the Big Island Democratic Party's Grand Rally on Friday at Mooheau Park in Hilo.

Soetoro-Ng is expected to arrive at the event at approximately 6 p.m., Obama campaign officials said.

On Sunday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 a.m., Soetoro-Ng will attend the Democratic Party of Hawaii's Unity Breakfast at Ala Moana Hotel.

Asian Americans for Obama Launches New Website

If you found us here, please visit us at our new site at www.AsianAmericansforObama.com.

For Immediate Release

September 05, 2008

Contact: Ramey Ko

Asian Americans for Obama

(M) 512.577.5729

 

ASIAN AMERICANS FOR OBAMA KICKS OFF 60 DAY GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN WITH NEW WEB SITE LAUNCH

 

As part of its major 60 day grassroots campaign before November 4, Asian Americans for Obama is launching a new design for its web site, with new social networking tools such as Digg, Facebook, del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon; an updated color scheme and appearance, including the incorporation of the official Obama campaign logo; a page of endorsements from prominent AAPI political and community leaders such as Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA, 15th), Senator Daniel Akaka, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, DNC APIA Caucus Chair Bel Leong-Hong, Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Tammy Duckworth, sister and brother-in-law Maya Soetoro-Ng and Konrad Ng, Lost's Daniel Dae Kim, Harold and Kumar's Kal Penn, National Geographic's Lisa Ling, Janet Yang of Manifest Films, and X2's Kelly Hu; grassroots supporter profiles and testimonials, and a calendar of upcoming events.

 

Other enhancements to the site include:

 

• Prominent links to Asian Americans for Obama's MyBarackObama, Facebook, YouTube and Donation pages
• RSS feed to alert users of new content
• Blogroll of Democratic and AAPI-related blogs
• Recent comments from readers
• BlogCatalog button linking back to one of the largest blog directories on the internet
• Comment forms and ways to get involved

 

Since December 2006, Asian Americans for Obama has mobilized AAPI grassroots efforts by providing comprehensive organizing resources, news, information, and media of relevance to AAPIs and the Obama campaign. Asian Americans have rallied both online and in person, traveling from all over the nation to battleground states such as Iowa, Nevada and Texas, with Asian Americans for Obama playing an unprecedented role in this year’s convention, a reflection of Senator Barack Obama’s innovative, bottom-up campaign philosophy.  By moving from Typepad to a self-hosted version of Wordpress, Asian Americans for Obama is taking advantage of the most-advanced blogging platform on the planet. Wordpress' advanced SEO capabilities and open-source extensibility will lend itself to increasing the reach of the website.

 

With less than 60 days to go before the general election, the new and enhanced features provided by the re-launched web site will empower grassroots supporters everywhere to mobilize effectively for fundraising, volunteering, and outreach. Asian Americans for Obama founder and Texas national delegate Ramey Ko notes, "Sen. Obama’s campaign has empowered everyday people to start a political movement in their own communities. Asian Americans can play a critical role in key battleground states, and it will be up to us to make sure we do."

 

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Asian Americans for Obama is a nationwide, grassroots organization of progressive Asian Americans who are working to help elect Senator Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. To learn more about Asian Americans for Obama, please visit http://www.asianamericansforobama.com

Obama Pachanga Tonight - Sept. 4, 8:30 PM

PACHANGA LATINA w/ EVA LONGORIA & ADAM RODRIGUEZ & DJ DAZ of LATINO 96.3
An Evening in Support of the Obama Victory Fund

Thursday, September 4, 2008 8:30PM-2:00AM
The Highlands
6801 Hollywood Blvd. Ste 433
(21 & over), Student: $50 Guest: $100 VIP: $1000 Host: $5000

RSVP http://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/PachangaLatina
or contact Courtney Weisman at nlc.rsvp@gmail.com or 202-863-7191

Fired up and Ready to go Volunteer!

Hey Cali Asian Americans for Obama!
After last week's convention and the ... um, interesting things said during the RNC convention this week, I know there are lots of you ready to go out there and do something! Here's your chance!!!

September 6 and 7: Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (www.filamarts.org)
San Pedro, CA
This Saturday and Sunday, Filipinos for Obama is sponsoring and sharing a table at FPAC (www.filamarts.org) with Mark Pulido (http://www.markpulido.com/).
Email oiyan.poon@gmail.com if you're able to come out and help register voters and get the word out for Obama, or just come out to FPAC and join in the fun.

September 12-14: Road trip to Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada
Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, Chinese Americans for Obama, South Asians for Obama, Filipinos for Obama, and Asian Americans for Obama are teaming up to organize a road trip to Nevada on the weekend of Sept. 12-14th.  Volunteers in Northern California will be heading to Reno, while volunteers in Southern California will be targeting Las Vegas.  Please let us know if you'd like to join us.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - please contact Anhoni Patel at anhoni@yahoo.com or Diana Olin at garnetorchid@gmail.com
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - please contact Oiyan Poon at oiyan.poon@gmail.com

To RSVP to the Vegas Roadtrip, please go to our Evite.
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?event=VMKBJAUONTNYGLCINDYN&inviteId=OFJOANMFRRKETBAMLXYQ&showResponse=&sortOrder=&responseToExpand=maybe

A limited number of free housing will be available in Las Vegas. Please rsvp about Vegas by Monday, 9/8. 

Obama Southern California HQ Grand Opening - Thursday, Sept. 4

This Thursday, September 4th, please join us at the grand opening of the Southern California headquarters.   

Meet campaign staff and fellow supporters in the area, and learn how you can make a difference in the last 62 days of this campaign by volunteering to canvass, register, and bring new voices into the political process.

Here are the details:   

 
Southern California for Obama
  Headquarters Opening

  3619 Motor Avenue, 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA

   Thursday, September 4th
  6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.   

     

  http://ca.barackobama.com/CAlosangeles

   Hope to see you there,

   Mitchell

Mitchell Schwartz
California State Director
Obama for America

P.S. -- One of the best ways you can help build this movement is by making weekend trips to Nevada through the Drive for Change program. You'll work with staff and volunteers to contact voters there and spread Barack's message of change.

Learn more and sign up for the first Drive for Change in Nevada next weekend, September 12th - 14th.

Manifest Hope Videos

Last week at the DNC, iconoclastic artist David Choe, whose groundbreaking work from murals to sculpture to t-shirts to graphic novels defies easy classification, was a featured exhibitor at the Manifest Hope Gallery.  He's interviewed in the video below:

Actor Daniel Dae Kim dropped by the exhibition and was also interviewed:

Let Our Voices Be Heard

This year, Asian Americans have an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference in the election.  With only two months left, we must act now to mobilize our community elect Sen. Obama and make an impact that the whole country will notice.

If Asian Americans are to make a difference, we must show up.  You can help make sure our community shows up by doing the following today:

1. Building our Facebook group:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2220476126

We need to utilize our networks to build this group up as large as possible.  Join the group, invite your friends, and encourage them to do the same.

2. Building our MyBarackObama group:  http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/AsianAmericansforObama

This is our primary e-mail list.  Please join our list and encourage your friends to do so as well.  The campaign pays attention to these numbers, and we can make a big splash by boosting our membership.

Asian Americans for Obama Weekly Web Release – 9/2/08

Our second Weekly Web Release focuses on the events of the Democratic National Convention, with an emphasis on Asian American participation and presence. Please look under the Democratic National Convention category and read more below the fold for our full coverage!

Nice Threads at Mile High Stadium

Ray Buenaventura, originally a Pledged Delegate for Hillary Clinton from California's CD-12 (including Daly City!), sporting his custom made Filipinos for Obama shirt. We are United for Change! Ray's image was featured on CNN's broadcast of Barack Obama's speech.

Our Blogdaddy at the Convention :)

Quick video of our blogfather at the convention! :)

Democratic National Convention Day 4 Recap and Photos

I have to admit that after the amazing speeches and powerful emotional moments of Day 3 from the roll call vote to the video tribute to veterans, I was a little worried that Day 4 would end up being a disappointment.  Sen. Obama is a powerful, enthralling speaker, but I fretted that even his singular talents wouldn't be enough to make the last day everything I hoped and dreamed.

Fortunately, I was wrong.

I'm not even going to attempt to describe Sen. Obama's speech other than to say it was pitch perfect, hitting every note correctly - answering the criticisms, dispelling the misconceptions, laying out the specifics of his proposals, defining his opponent, challenging the other side to an honorable campaign, all without sacrificing one bit of the eloquence and inspiration for which he is known.  Otherwise, I will let Sen. Obama speak for himself - you can watch his speech in my post below.

But not only was I wrong that Sen. Obama himself was not up to the task of making the last day the climax that it needed to be, I was wrong that the rest of the program as well.  Speaker after speaker and performer after performer impressed.  And the sheer atmosphere of 84,000 Americans cheering, crying, and, above all, hoping for the change we so desparately need in this country truly did make this day different and remarkable.  This was the people's convention, the open convention - from the unprecedented access and participation to the open air of the stadium.

Democratic National Convention Day 3 Recap and Photos

So much happened on Day 3 that it's going to be tough to keep this recap reasonable in length.  In terms of official convention business, the main event was the official nomination of Sen. Barack Obama.  Since the primary season ended in early June, Sen. Obama has been the presumptive Democratic nominee as he won the majority of pledged delegates in the various primaries and caucuses, and he had enough pledged superdelegates to capture a majority of the total delegates at stake.  However, until the delegates cast their ballots at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the nomination wasn't official.  In a dramatic, though not unexpected, gesture for unity, Sen. Clinton interrupted the traditional roll call vote of each state's delegates to move to suspend the rules and confirm Sen. Obama's nomination by acclaimation (voice vote).  The emotional impact on the convention was palpable; you can hear my live play by play of the events in my post below.  As a young person, it's easy to forget just how unbelievably momentous Sen. Obama's candidacy is; during the roll call vote, Bertha Means, an 88 year old African American delegate from my Senate District in Austin, sobbed uncontrollably for over 15 minutes as the votes for Sen. Obama were being called out.  She understood the history, the improbability of the moment.

My day began with the AAPI Caucus meeting, where Maya, Konrad, and several AAPI political figures spoke to the AAPI delegates and guests about voter registration and outreach for the critical remaining weeks of the election.  Celebrities Kelly Hu and Tamlyn Tomita also made appearances.  I also got to meet Georgia McCauley, Barack and Maya's hanai mother (a Native Hawaiian adoption tradition comparable to being a godparent, but with even deeper implications) and the Chair of Democrats Abroad Philippines.  Georgia reminded the audience that US citizens living abroad can vote in the presidential election, and it's important for us to reach out to our friends, family, and colleagues abroad to vote for Sen. Obama.

Konrad Ng Speaks to AAPI Caucus

Maya Soetoro-Ng Chats with Attendees at the AAPI Caucus

Hawai'i Stars in Denver

KGMB reporter Keahi Tucker caught up with Kelly Hu & Daniel Dae Kim at the Pepsi Convention Center following Joe Biden's speech.

"The stars have come out in Denver.

People have spotted Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, comedians Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman.
Ashanti performed at a local club. Oscar award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss even made an appearance live on our sunrise program.

Local-born actress Kelly Hu and current resident Daniel Dae Kim spoke with Keahi."

Watch it here.

Kelly Hu and Daniel Dae Kim Cheer the Convention Speakers with the Hawaii Delegation at Invesco Field on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention

Leaving Denver On a Jet Plane

Listen to Ramey Ko share his thoughts on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver as he heads to the airport to fly home to Austin.

Backstage with Barack

Courtesy of TIME Magazine Photo Essay, Backstage with Barack

Sen. Barack Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech

I have just one thing to say to John McCain:

How are you going to top this?

Barack's Moving Bio Video:

The Acceptance Speech:

For text of full remarks as prepared for delivery, go below the fold.

Moblogging Live from Invesco Field: Will.I.Am Performs "Yes We Can"

Listen to this live report from Invesco Field on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Asian Americans for Obama Interviews Daniel Dae Kim

Listen to this interview with actor Daniel Dae Kim who plays Jin on Lost on his support for Sen. Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

Asian Americans for Obama Interviews Kelly Hu

Listen to this interview with actress, former Miss Hawaii, and Obama supporter Kelly Hu (X2, Scorpion King) at the Democratic National Convention.

Convention Day 2 Recap and Photos

Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention was even more amazing than the first.  The big news of the day, of course, was Sen. Hillary Clinton's powerful unity speech.  She hit it out of the park with her impassioned call to arms for Sen. Obama, and she left no doubt that the choice between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain could not be starker.

But it was also a big day on the Asian American & Pacific Islander front.  It will also be a day I'll remember forever, because I got to meet Maya Soetoro-Ng and Konrad Ng in person!  Not only that, but Maya gave me a big bear hug!  I felt like I could go out and beat John McCain myself after that!

But it doesn't end there - I also met one of my first great AAPI heroes, former San Jose Mayor, Congressman, and Secretary of Commerce and Transportation Norman Mineta and superstar Daniel Dae Kim from Lost.  And all of this happened just at breakfast.

Maya Soetoro-Ng Chats with Daniel Dae Kim

Konrad Ng, Dr. Stanley Toy, & Daniel Dae Kim

Help Sen. Obama Win AQUA Presidential Endorsement in DC

API Queers United for Action (AQUA) and Asian Pacific Islander Queer Sisters (APIQS) are holding a DC Queer Asian American Presidential Endorsement Forum in Washington, DC.

If you are or plan to be a member of either organization, please attend and vote for Sen. Obama!

When: Thursday, September 4, 2008 (at 6:30PM)
Where: The Human Rights Campaign Office (1640 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Washington DC)
Who: All are welcome to attend - open to the public.
Please RSVP for your seat by August 30th. 

See flyer below for more details on joining and RSVPing:

Download DC_Queer_Asian_American_Presidential_Endorsement_Forum_Flyer.pdf

Obama '08 District #10 - San Francisco Office 9/6/08 1-3pm - Show Up for Change!!

From Obama District #10 San Francisco Office:

Please join us on Saturday, September 6, 2008, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. to kick off the final phase of Senator Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign at the Obama '08 District #10 Campaign Office to be held at :

 

            BVHP REPS

            4636 Third Street @ Newcomb Avenue

            San Francisco, CA 94124

            415 821-BVHP (2847)

 

           Refreshments will be served. Please distribute this announcement to your email address book!

 

For more information please type our url: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/dianewesleysmith.

 

Help us heighten voter awareness in Bayview Hunters Point, Double Rock, Potrero Hill and Sunnydale!

Day 3 Wrap Up

Listen to this wrap up of the speakers and convention business on Day 3, including discussion of speeches by President Bill Clinton, Sen. John Kerry, Tammy Duckworth, and our new Vice Presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden.

Tammy Duckworth's Convention Remarks

Tammy Duckworth, Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, and former Democratic candidate for Congress, will lead off the final hour of tonight's Democratic National Convention program, speaking about military policy and veterans care.

Thai American Duckworth graduated from McKinley High School in Honolulu, the same alma mater of Sen. Dan Inouye, and also from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Duckworth lost both of her legs in November 2004 due to injuries she suffered when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting north of Baghdad was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade hit the cockpit.

Her remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

It's Official: Barack Obama is Our Democratic Nominee

In a widely anticipated procedural move initiated by Sen. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama was minutes ago nominated by the delegates of the Democratic National Convention to be the party's nominee for President of the United States.

The motion followed a roll call in alphabetical order of our states up to New Mexico, at which point, New Mexico yielded the floor to Illinois, which in turn yielded the floor to New York and Sen. Clinton's motion to approve Sen. Obama as our nominee by acclamation.

"Sen. Barack Obama accepts the nomination," said Speaker Pelosi.

Listen to Ramey Ko's moblog post right below as he calls in while the nomination was being brought to close.

Sen. Barack Obama Officially Nominated By the Democratic Party for President of the United States

Listen to this live play-by-play of the roll call vote on the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States.  Sen. Hillary Clinton steps up once again to unify Americans behind Sen. Barack Obama!

Sen. Hillary Clinton moves to suspend the rules and affirm the nomination of Sen. Barack Obama by voice vote

Roll Call Vote for Presidential Nominee in Progress

Listen to this post reporting on the progress of the state by state roll call vote of delegates for the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.

My official vote for Sen. Barack Obama for Democratic Nominee for President of the United States

Day 2 Moblog Wrap Up

Listen to this latest post from Ramey Ko wrapping up Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

New Hillary and Obama Joint Response Ad

Hillary and Barack work together for the same goals!

Rep. Mike Honda, Calif. Controller John Chiang Remarks Before Convention

Mobile photo by Cate Park

Congressman Mike Honda, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and California State Controller John Chiang spoke today before the convention in Denver.

Both are mentioned in a story yesterday by Lisa Amin of ABC7 in San Francisco about the prominent AAPI speakers lined up at the Democratic convention.  Her story doesn't mention Maya Soetoro-Ng, who spoke yesterday, but the theme of the story is this: the Democratic convention features a number of AAPI speakers; the Republican convention only has one lone AAPI slotted to speak -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Rep. Honda's and Controller Chiang's remarks follow.

Howard Dean Speaking at AAPI Caucus

Mobile photo by Cate Park

Cynematic from MOMocrats was at the AAPI Caucus earlier today and posted her thoughts, among them:

Interesting nuggets of info from the caucus:
* AAPIs have 25% more delegates at the DNC in 2008 than in 2004.
* 9 delegates from otherwise lily-white Minnesota! Woo hoo!
* McCain's Ohio ground game has gone missing, and with the help of APIAs, "we have a great chance of winning the state," according to Jay Goyal, OH State Representative, 73rd district.
* Ted Lieu,  CA State Assembly, 53rd Assembly district: AAPI voter participation is on the rise.
* Yul Kwon, Survivor McHottie, was once aide for Joe Lieberman...before Lieberman went over to the dark side.

There was a lively panel afterwards where young activists discussed APIA voter participation via social media (extremely effective, especially in the under 30 crowd). It's a GOTV and education tool. And the youth vote, which overwhemingly went for Obama in the primaries, can be effective in advocating up the generational ladder among family and friends.

Obama's Sister Speaks at Democratic Convention

Maya & the Hawai'i delegation on KGMB.

Soetoro-Ng talks Ohana

Hawaii teacher Maya Soetoro-Ng took center stage yesterday at the Democratic National Convention, making the transition to sought-after political speaker.

Sen. Barack Obama's half sister profiled him for the party faithful at the Pepsi Center, saying his strength was derived from their mother, Stanley Ann Dunham.

From her, she said, they learned that "with a little imagination, we could dream the improbable, that through hard work, we could accomplish the extraordinary."

Full story here.

Barack Obama's sister defends his character in Denver

Convention Day 1 Wrap Up

Today was the first "official" day of the Democratic National Convention.  It's going to be hard to put the entire exhilarating yet exhausting experience into words, so I'll try to keep my comments brief and let my photos do most of the talking.

There were quite a number of AAPI events today, beginning with the AAPI Caucus meeting this morning at 10 AM.  Numerous AAPI leaders, candidates, and elected officials came and spoke to the importance of AAPI political participation and why electing Sen. Obama is critical for our community, including Congressman Mike Honda, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, DNC AAPI Caucus Chair Bel Leong-Hong, California State Controller John Chiang, Illinois Veterans Affairs Secretary Tammy Duckworth, Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua, Connecticut State Assembly Member Bill Tong, New York City Council Member John Liu, and many, many more.  DNC Chair Howard Dean dropped by to say a few words, as well as Convention Secretary Alice Germond, who noted the record estimated 264 AAPI delegates at this year's convention, a 20% increase over 2004.

DNC Chair Howard Dean speaks to the AAPI Caucus

I also had the opportunity to sit on a panel on grassroots organizing and engaging AAPI youth along with Hrishi Karthikeyan, co-founder of South Asians for Obama, and S.R. Siddarth, also known as "macaca" thank to a certain former Senator from Virginia.  Survivor winner Yul Kwon moderated the panel.  We discussed our approach to organizing youth and the grassroots, bridging the generational gap in the AAPI community, and the challenges of engaging youth in politics at the local level.

Maya's Speech

"It's an honor to be here tonight, and it's been an honor to meet so many of you across this country and hear your stories.

Tonight, I want to share my story about growing up with my big brother, Barack Obama, a truly hard act to follow. When we were young, our family didn't have much in the way of wealth, but what we did have was far more important. We had people who made us believe that with a little imagination, we could dream the improbable; that through hard work, we could accomplish the extraordinary; that through the power of education, we could propel ourselves to a future far more promising than our circumstances led us to expect."

Continue reading "2008 Democratic National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Maya Soetoro-Ng, Half-sister of Barack Obama, High School Teacher - Hawaii"

(yes, it was amazing & incredible)

Moblog Update on Michelle Obama Speech and End of Day 1

Listen to Ramey Ko as he shares his thoughts on Michelle Obama's speech and the end of Day One of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Moblog Update from Convention Floor Day 1: Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Speech

Listen to this moblog update from the floor of the Democratic National Convention following Sen. Ted Kennedy's speech.  Sen. Kennedy was a surprise, last minute addition to the speaker line-up as he has been recovering from surgery for brain cancer.

Moblog Update from Convention Floor Day 1: Everyday Americans Speak

In a historic move, Sen. Obama asked that everyday Americans be given prime time speaking slots at the Democratic National Convention this year in addition to the usual political figures.  Ramey discusses one such speech from the floor of the convention.

Maya Soetoro-Ng Speaking Before Convention

Thanks to Cate Park and AJ Halagao for sending camera phone pics of Maya Soetoro-Ng speaking before the convention tonight -- just about 20 minutes ago. Although a well-known fact for those who have heard Maya speak before, her intelligence, charisma, poise and warmth were on display for the whole country tonight and we're all proud of her.  Maika'i (great job), Maya!

Moblogging from Convention Floor Day 1: Maya and Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Ramey discusses speeches by Barack's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. from the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Moblog Update from APA Power Hour

Listen to this moblog report from the APA Power Hours hosted by the Asian American Action Fund at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Moblog Update from AAPI Caucus

Listen to Ramey's moblog on the AAPI Caucus meeting on Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Maya

Nice stories leading up to her speech tonight. . .

Reflections on growing up with Obama

Obama relatives to tell his story to the public

AAPI Summit and the First Party of the Week

I've been in Denver for less than 12 hours, and it's already been a hectic, busy day.

After landing at 9:40 AM MST, the rest of the Austin folks and I headed to our hotel in Aurora, Colorado, a few miles outside of Denver.  We checked in to our hotel, which was just recently bought and renovated, so there were a few "hiccups" including the computers going down and problems with our A/C.  After putting our luggage up and getting our bearings, I headed down to the Hyatt Regency downtown with fellow Austin AAPI delegate Bobbi Kommineni to attend the AAPI Colorado Summit.

Just landed in Denver

Ka Leo O AAPI Obama Newsletter - 6th Ed.

Dear AAPI Friends:

As we head off to Denver, we hope you will enjoy reading this week’s edition of our newsletter, Ka Leo O AAPI, http://my.barackobama.com/newsletterAug22.

Barack Obama will soon become the official Democratic nominee for president.  It’s time for a real change.  John McCain said in an interview that he doesn’t know how many houses he has. Think about that: he actually has so many houses that he actually can’t remember how many he owns.  Every day that goes by, Senator McCain shows just how out of touch he is with the struggles of everyday people—whether it’s offering billions more in tax breaks for the oil companies or declaring that multimillionaires are members of the middle class. We can’t afford another president who doesn’t get it.

Barack Obama will put the middle class first. He’ll pass a middle class tax cut that gives 95 percent of working Americans a tax cut of up to $1,000—and he’ll give families an emergency energy rebate to help folks cope with rising prices.  The choice is clear – Obama will be on your side.  McCain won’t.

Betsy Kim
AAPI Vote Deputy Director
Obama for America
(312) 819-2462
bkim@barackobama.com

************

To receive updates from the Obama AAPI Vote team, please sign up here, http://my.barackobama.com/AAPIforObama.

Arrived in Denver

Listen to this latest post recorded shortly after arriving in Denver.

Waiting for the Plane to Denver

Ramey talks about his feelings of anticipation while waiting for his flight to Denver.

See You at the Convention!

Early tomorrow morning, I will be flying out of Austin to join our fellow Asian Americans for Obama and hundreds of AAPI delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

There are hundreds of events, speeches, trainings, and parties scheduled for next week, including AAPI oriented ones, as we come together to nominate Sen. Obama for President of the United States and consolidate our strategy and rally the troops to win in November.  Personally, I have no idea how I'm going to decide between everything that's going on - I'm counting on my fellow convention goers to help me with those decisions.

Even if you can't make it to Denver yourself, the Asian Americans for Obama team (and perhaps a few special surprise guest bloggers) will be working to bring the experience to you through our site.  We'll be making every effort to blog our experience and to help provide as many updates as quickly as possible, we're going to be taking advantage of a neat little tool for "moblogging."  This application allows our bloggers to record short audio clips with our mobile phones, which are then automatically uploaded to the site.  So check back frequently for the latest from Denver!

VP Round Up

Now that the choice has been made, our task is clear.  Just like it has been our task in the Asian American & Pacific Islander community to introduce our family, friends, and colleagues to Sen. Obama, it is now also our task to introduce them to Sen. Joe Biden, the next Vice President of the United States.

We've put together some links to get us started, including background on Sen. Biden, moments from his career, and some of the buzz around him since the announcement.  Knowledge is our greatest weapon in the fight for the future of this country, so we must arm ourselves by learning everything we can.

Sen. Biden's Official YouTube Channel - This is a great place to start.  Lots of pieces showcasing Sen. Biden's background and his work in the Senate.

Reaction from Politicians, Press, and Blogs - A roundup of reaction from all corners, including some former VP prospects.  Includes praise from members of both parties, commentary from the media, political bloggers, etc.  There are also some great video clips and polling.

Some key points include the fact that for a 35 year veteran of the Senate, Biden has not maintained his primary residence in DC like most Senators and rides the train to work.  The GOP will also undoubtedly use Biden's own criticisms of Obama from the primary season, but several folks point out how Obama made it very clear that having a VP who isn't afraid to disagree and express different opinions was one of his primary criteria.  It also provides Biden a chance to tell his story on how he came to Obama as a skeptic, which can be an effective way to speak to undecided voters.

Think Progress Compilation - A post with some great links to memorable Biden moments, positions and accomplishments on issue and policy, etc.

Meet Jill Biden - A brief article on Jill Biden and how she could be one of the campaign's greatest assets.  We hope to hear more soon.  For more great stuff from Huffington Post, visit their Joe Biden Big News Page.