Posted on 09/11/2008 11:34:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin tore through the Republican National Convention like a lead sled in the Iditarod dogsled race, while Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who chose to forgo a scheduled convention speech by staying away to deal with Hurricane Gustav, catapulted to the top tier as a GOP presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016.
Indian American Republicans who attended the convention Sept. 1-4 unanimously raved to India-West about Senator John McCain’s vice presidential choice and Palin’s stiletto-like jibes at Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama in her acceptance speech.
“She sent a vibrant message to Middle America that she connects with them,” said Puneet Ahluwalia of Vienna, Va., co-chair of Indo Americans for McCain in the U.S. “Her speech erased any doubts about her as a leader.”
Sunana Batra of Burbank, Calif., staff whip of the California GOP delegation and a non-voting delegate, told India-West Palin is a “strong and extremely articulate candidate. She has experience running a government…It was a lofty and beautiful” speech.
Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican candidate for state Assembly in San Francisco, said the Alaska governor was “eloquent” and the GOP’s “secret weapon.”
Dhillon cited Palin’s stinging remarks in her speech when she said about Obama, “It's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state Senate.”
Also a delight, added Dhillon, was former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s broadsides against Obama, which were dripping with sarcasm. “I lived in New York when he was mayor and it brought me back,” she said.
Palin is “dynamite,” enthused Deven Verma of Los Altos, Calif.
Verma and his son, Vishal Verma, are venture capitalist who have supported Democratic candidates in the past, but attended the GOP convention this year as co-chairs of Indo Americans for McCain.
The Vermas in a joint statement to India-West said Palin “has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be vice president…She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her administration and has seen approval ratings of over 80 percent.”
Obama’s “inexperience is the clear weakness for the Obama-Biden ticket,” they added. “Obama will raise taxes on those making more than $200,000, which is a large segment of our population. Who wants to pay more taxes?” they asked rhetorically.
Meanwhile, Jindal, whose no-nonsense management of preparations for Hurricane Gustav, the impact of which was far less severe than expected, drew effusive praise at the convention.
“Thank God for Bobby Jindal,” U.S. Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Added Louisiana delegation chairman Bobby Wagner, “God made Bobby Jindal to handle hurricanes.”
“Managing a crisis confidently matters a whole lot more than giving a speech,” commented political science professor John Pitney Jr. of Claremont McKenna College in California. “If McCain goes down, Jindal will definitely, almost automatically, be the front-runner” for president in 2012, opined Pitney, former deputy director of research for the Republican National Committee.
A major coup for the Indian American community at the convention occurred on the first day, when most activities were cancelled or truncated due to Gustav.
Sunita Krishna, an alternate delegate from Arizona, McCain’s home state, led the Pledge of Allegiance. She told reporters afterwards she was proud to “represent Arizonans and Indians” and to be the first Indian American to recite the pledge at a major party convention.
If all this means that McCain was glad to be upstaged by Palin, the GOP presidential standard-bearer nevertheless received good marks for his speech.
“John McCain's remarkable words of courage, strength, compassion, leadership, vision, and love of country speak volumes about who he is, and why we need him right now,” Dr. Sampat Shivangi, head of Indian American Physicians for McCain and a delegate to the GOP convention from Jackson, Miss., told India-West.
“Barack Obama and Joe Biden or John McCain and Sarah Palin? There is no comparison – country first. John McCain and Sarah Palin will fight for us.”
Several Indian American Republicans said they expect McCain to be a more solid supporter of the U.S.-India nuclear deal than Obama, who must deal with the anti-nuclear-proliferation wing of the Democratic Party.
“John McCain will not undo the work done by his predecessor,” Ahluwalia said simply.
Added the Vermas, “McCain is supporting the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal whole-heartedly…Obama’s support is not quite clear. Originally he was not in favor and introduced an addendum to the bill. “Additionally, he is not supporting U.S. nuclear energy production, therefore it would be difficult for him to support the (U.S.-India) nuclear energy deal. This issue is most dear to all Indo-Americans.”
Batra, director of operations for the California Republican Party, said the debates and grassroots efforts by Republicans will be crucial in the election. “We plan to have over 5,000 volunteers making more than 45,000 calls to Republicans,” she vowed.
Alaska has a very small Indian American population, with less than 1,000 in 2006, according to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau.
However, Palin did make one major Indian American appointment while governor, naming Anand Dubey director of the state Enterprise Technology Services division in October 2007.
Dubey, who spent more than three years with the Alaska Railroad and worked for British Petroleum, manages a staff of 125. He has a B.S. in chemical engineering from the MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. in telecommunications management from Alaska Pacific University.
Palin / Jindal ‘12
Bump
Wouldn't a "lead sled" be really, really heavy and not at all good for racing?
Indian Americans are small business owners here in Cali... I am pretty confident that they are hoping for sane tax policy in a McCain Palin administration.
(I don’t know how this will sound but here it goes...)
I do believe that with people like Jindal in the political landscape in the future, there is a good chance that we might battle the cultural morass that Democrats think all minorities should abide by. We picked a woman VP not just because she is a woman, but like our Anti-Affirmative Action credentials because she fits the bill. She has the experience that Obama-Biden lack, and she would also shore up battleground states like Michigan in McCain’s favor. She is a secret weapon and thank goodness for that.
As some would say about Obama, we are OK with having a black person as President it will just have to be the right one. The same thing could be said about Hillary, that we were waiting for the right woman(that is also what my mother says. She really would love to vote for a woman in office but it would have to be the right one).Well so far we have found the right woman for the job, or at least I think so. And if she succeeds McCain as President we might turn back many women to the roots of the GOP Feminist movement when it was more concerned about the Right to Vote and not the Right to be irresponsible. And Jindal will probably ward off the other attacks.
You cannot just use the standard playbook tactics of calling Republicans sexists and racists when you have a woman and a guy of Indian descent on the same ticket. The only thing I can think of if Palin-Jindal win(along with Michael Steele, for example) are the good ole Democrat days when racism was “cool” to people like Karl Marx. But I bet you that that fact isn’t taught in the Ultra-Left Universities.
>Palin / Jindal ‘12<
I already penciled Jindal for Prez in 12’ but Palin changed those plans quickly. Let’s talk in 4 years...
The results of the recent “international” poll taken on preference for American presidential candidates, are interesting.
Kenya had the highest preference for Obama...something like 85%. Understandable, Obama’s father was from kenya and a muslim.
India had one of the lowest numbers for Obama with 9%.
I have a guess why his numbers were so low there. The Indians are
well aware of the 800 year history of muslim rule in India.
Still... here in the O.C., I see a lot of small middle class Indian owned businesses that would benefit from a low tax, pro growth policy of McCain Palin.. They are also very family centered, loving people who would identify with with Mrs. Palin’s dedication to her family.
Excellent.
Jindal is my gov. He should have won the first time he ran, but I’m sad to say many republicans deserted him (example, I was the only one in my GOP family to vote for him that time), but they learned their lesson and got it right the next time around.
I’m proud to say I’ve voted for him for gov twice (well, three times if you count the open primary). I’d love to vote for him as apart of a national ticket. :-)
And Jindal/? in '16. This could result in a serious nightmare for the dems.
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