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Kerry or Bush: Indian Americans divided
A sign of the maturing politicisation of Indian Americans in this country when they begin to broadly reflect the mainstream split in America in this presidential race.
It may be a sign of the maturing politicisation of Indian Americans in this country when they begin to broadly reflect the mainstream split in America in this presidential race.
Democrats are largely pleased with presidential candidate John Kerry's choice of a running mate in Senator John Edwards, but Republicans are even happier that they now have the ideal punching bag for convincing any uncertain voters that changing the administration would be a bad idea come November 2.
Edwards has been outspoken against outsourcing of jobs and, to top it all, is a trial lawyer, a bad word among Republicans and among most physicians, including many Indian American doctors. When Kerry announced he wanted Edwards, his former rival for the presidential nomination, he pleased a broad range of Democrats including those that had rallied behind Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean.
Edwards, with his southern drawl and marvellous oratorical skills, can bring Kerry some of the south, some of the mid-west, and any undecided middle-class and mid-west Americans. Indian Americans are largely divided according to their party affiliations and party positions.
Democratic Party fundraiser Ramesh Kapur, a physician and businessman from Massachusetts who is leading Kerry's drive with Indian Americans, said: " He (Edwards) is very popular. All the women that I've talked to love Edwards, so all the women are going to vote for us. It's a young, fresh face. He will be good in the debates and will show up Cheney's views. Regarding his views on outsourcing, you've got to realise that no presidential candidate will say that's its okay for jobs to go out of the country. "
"Kerry has already come out to say that we want to make sure not to give incentives to move out. Now corporations have incentives like tax postponement. One of the ways to limit outsourcing is that Kerry will work to push back up high the 'H 1' visas that have been reduced to half of what they were. It will help the economy and will be an indirect incentive for jobs to be outsourced. There will be better solutions, instead of the straightforward way of finding it cheaper to manufacture outside. It will be a more creative way of dealing with it. "
"For Edwards, there will be a learning curve on outsourcing. The top of the ticket is still Kerry. Edwards provides the balance to the base of the Democratic Party. You can see that in his numbers. He has been consistently second in most of the primaries. Lot of people like his views. "
Zach Zachariah, a cardiologist from Florida who ranks among the top "rangers" for the Bush-Cheney fundraising campaign, said: "I think most Americans don't like a trial lawyer and I don't know if Americans are enamoured of trial lawyers. He is a very popular Senator but being a trial lawyer might hurt him. And he has been senator for just a short while. John Kerry himself said Edwards is inexperienced. He said it; I don't have to say it. He (Edwards) made all his money suing doctors so I don't think doctors are too thrilled with having a lawyer in the White House.
Kumar Barve, a majority leader in the Maryland state assembly and in the Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee for the upcoming July 26-29 National Convention, said: "It's a terrific choice. Indian Americans are so overwhelmingly opposed to the war in Iraq and they are not going to be moved so much by his (Edwards') views on outsourcing and the fact of his being a trial lawyer. When you get right down to it, policy is set by the president and not by the vice president," Barve asserted.
