Barack Obama gets key Indian American backing

The NY Indian community is supporting the US presidential hopeful.

The 2008 US presidential election nominee, Democrat Barack Obama, has received some key support from the Indian American community.

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Former city of Cleveland law director Subodh Chandra has joined some heavyweight Indian Americans, including San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris, to email community members and invite them to a $500-per-person fundraiser for Obama in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by a public rally.

"I believe he (Obama) can bring Americans together at a time when people are so divided," Chandra said, according to India West, an ethnic Indian newspaper.

On Feb 10, in Springfield, Illinois, Obama, an African American, announced his candidacy for the 2008 US presidential election. He is the son of a Kenyan migrant.

"As a South Asian, I feel he is one of us - the son of an immigrant, in tune with cultural identity, with a broader sense of the world. I have never felt that so much of a person's life story so embodied my own," Chandra added.

Born Aug 4, 1961, Obama is the senator from Illinois. According to the US senate historical office, he is the fifth African American senator in US history and the only African American currently serving in the US Senate.